DSV and a private equity consortium led by CVC have reportedly individually put in binding bids of around €14bn for DB Schenker.
This is according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg has reported as the race to buy Deutsche Bahn’s freight forwarding subsidiary has narrowed to just the two bidders from a group of four.
As well as a bid for €14bn, the CVC-led group has simultaneously discussed an offer of as much as €16bn for DB Schenker that could see the German government reinvesting about €3bn for an approximately 25% stake in the forwarder, the undisclosed source(s) said.
A Deutsche Bahn spokesperson told Air Cargo News: "The sales process for DB Schenker is confidential. We therefore do not comment on bidders, details of discussions or the amount of the bids. We will provide information of any decisions in due course. The most important criterion remains that a sale must be economically advantageous for Deutsche Bahn."
In June, Deutsche Bahn narrowed the number of potential buyers of DB Schenker down to four bidders. Initial bids for the forwarder were between €14bn and more than €15bn.
The following month A.P. Moller-Maersk confirmed it had withdrawn its bid after it concluded that integrating DB Schenker into the company would involve multiple challenges.
Later in July, there were reports that Saudi shipping company Bahri has dropped out of the running for the forwarder.
Deutsche Bahn announced that DB Schenker was officially up for sale in December 2023 after spending a year mulling its options.
The forwarding giant is being sold by Deutsche Bahn as it looks to reduce debts.
Air Cargo News sister title DVZ reported earlier this year that Deutsche Bahn had asked interested parties to demonstrate their experience with logistics M&A deals of this size and that they have the appropriate financial resources.
They must also explain what interest they have in Schenker and give an initial insight into their plans for the company if they were to win the contract.
The sales documents show that a complete sale is still the preferred option, although interest in less than 100% of the shares would be considered, so a partial sale is not completely ruled out either.
https://www.aircargonews.net/freight-forwarder/db-schenker-the-bright-spot-for-deutsche-bahn/
