German rail company Deutsche Bahn announced the sale of DB Schenker, one of the world's largest logistics service providers, in December 2023 in an anticipated deal worth EUR 20 billion if completed.

Previously, Maersk stated that they would not be interested in acquiring DB Schenker or similar large freight forwarders. However, Vincent Clerc, CEO of AP Moller Maersk, revealed a change in perspective during the Q4 2023 earnings conference on February 8.

When asked about the possibility of acquiring DB Schenker, Clerc stated that with the company expanding in the market, it is something Maersk needs to consider, although it is "definitely not a do or die."

Clerc noted that the absolute scale of the deal makes it a matter to be considered. "It will have a consequence whether we do the deal or we don't do the deal, because it will change the landscape in logistics depending on who does the deal."

There would also be fundamental price and synergy issues for Maersk. In the past, the company had feared dis-synergies from acquiring a large forwarder. However, Clerc noted the resilience in earnings of DB Schenker and its competitors, and that CMA CGM has shown, from what Maersk can see, that it is possible to house 2PL ocean carrier and a 3PL logistics provider successfully under the same roof. Rival container line CMA CGM acquired CEVA Logistics in 2019.

At a broader level, Maersk's strategy remains to diversify its business operations into what Clerc describes as "the more stable and less volatile part of the supply chain, which is pretty much anything outside Ocean 2PL."

Maersk has executed several acquisitions in the logistics industry to expand its business operations to become an integrated logistics service provider and is expected to continue to do so because developing those capabilities naturally takes too long.

"I think it is one of the key rationale element for why we have done M&A so far and it is a key element behind why we will need to do more M&A in the future in order to do this because developing those capabilities organically is simply going to take too long," Clerc said.

 

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Source: Phaata.com (According to SeatradeMaritime) 

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