DB Management Board signs agreement to sell DB Schenker to DSV
NewsThe Management Board of Deutsche Bahn signed an agreement to sell its subsidiary DB Schenker to Danish company DSV for € 14.3 billion.
The Supervisory Board of DB AG, the holding company for the multimodal logistics giant, is expected to give the go-ahead for the sale at its meeting this Wednesday, 14 December
It is expected tht the Board will authorise management to prepare the sale of up to 100 % of DB Schenker, although a spokesman for DB AG said there would be no comment ahead of the meeting this Wednesday. However, Reuters has reported seeing internal documents confrming that Deutsche Bahn management has now asked the Supervisory Board to approve the start of the sale process.
An IPO has been all but ruled out, given the volatility of the market in the uncertain economic and geopolitical environment and the fact that DB Schenker is not a fully-independent actor. Oliver Seidl, CFO of DB Schenker, has forecast EBIT for 2022 of around €1.2B, similar to the figure for 2021. A sale is expected to be worth around €20B, which would be used to write down DB AG’s debts.
Two points to bear in mind are that DB Cargo took over Full Load Solutions (FLS), which strengthen its position as a specialist for European rail logistics while leaving Schenker as a global logistics leader; DB Cargo also took over TRANSA Spedition GmbH in Offenbach, a specialist for intermodal transport.
A consortium of CVC Capital Partners and Carlyle has announced interest in the sale; other potential suitors are said to be Blackstone, Advent and Bain.
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