German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) has decided to prepare for the sale of its road freight subsidiary Schenker. However, the sale won't materialise in the near future due to “current uncertainty on the capital markets", announced DB.
The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn AG (DB) has assigned DB’s Management Board the task of examining and preparing the case for a potential sale of up to 100% of its shares in DB Schenker.
Decisions as to the categorical initiation of a divestment process and the form any sale may take will be made separately at a later date, the announcement reads.
Pursuant to Thursday’s Supervisory Board resolution, revenue from a sale of DB Schenker would remain in the DB Group in its entirety and be put toward considerably reducing the company’s debt, for example.
“Selling DB Schenker would further sharpen DB Group’s focus on its Strong Rail strategy and on DB’s core business. The objective of the Group strategy, which was launched in 2019, is to shift traffic to environmentally friendly rail, in both passenger and freight transport, and to expand the rail infrastructure in Germany,” the announcement explains.
With record results, DB Schenker has made a significant contribution to the DB Group’s economic growth over many years.In the medium term, however, “DB Schenker will require larger financial resources and more independence to make international acquisitions with a view to retaining and enhancing its market position in the ever more competitive logistics sector and its enterprise value in the future”, DB adds.
For this reason, a sale could open up new opportunities for DB Schenker in terms of growth and development.
“In light of the economic challenges being faced worldwide and current uncertainty on the capital markets, DB does not want to rush a possible sale of DB Schenker. A starting date for a specific divestment process is dependent on the overall situation and has not yet been decided”, the statement reads. However, Reuters seems to know that the starting date of the sale is definitely after the second half of 2023.
While DB Schenker has been a successful business both operationally and financially, rumours about its sale started spreading in 2021 summer. Some companies, like DSV, even expressed interest in a possible purchase.
In the first half of 2022, DB Schenker generated EUR 1.2 billion in operating profit, the best mid-year EBIT in the company’s 150-year history. With 76,100 employees at over 1,850 locations in more than 130 countries, DB Schenker is one of the world’s leading logistics providers. The company operates land, air and ocean transport services and offers comprehensive solutions for logistics and global supply chain management from a single source.
No wonder, the DB states in its announcement that “a sale shall only take place if it is of financial advantage for DB Group compared to keeping DB Schenker in the Group”.
