Roughly 25 parties have submitted their names for the takeover of DB Schenker to the international banking consortium that is supervising the sale of the German forwarder. The names include the usual suspects such as the Danish DSV and the German DHL, but the majority are still unknown.
Specialists close to the sales process announced this in German trade media.
The registration period for what is already being described as the largest logistics takeover of this century – estimates of the purchase price range from 15 to 20 billion euros started before Christmas ends today, 15 January. Those who have expressed their interest will receive additional information as part of the sales process as well as a provisional annual account of DB Schenker for the 2023 financial year. Based on those data, the buyers can make a non-binding initial offer for the profitable logistics subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn.
Purchasing price is not the only factor
Who ultimately wins the grand prize depends, first of all, on the highest bid. After all, DB’s supervisory board has received such instructions from DB Schenker’s sole shareholder: the German government. Berlin indicated that the proceeds from the sale of Schenker should then be used to reduce DB’s sky-high debt and finance future investments in improved rail services.
Other than the purchase price, the specialists indicate that there will be other factors playing a key role in choosing a buyer. It will also be examined whether employment will remain in Germany and whether DB Schenker’s head office will move abroad after the purchase. The latter is important because the German government would also miss out on corporate taxes.
Another aspect is DB Schenker’s future profits. As part of the bidding process, the German state, as seller, will want to include clauses in which part of the future results will still accrue to the German treasury for a certain period.
This article was originally published on our sister publication NT.nl
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