Deutsche Post DHL has signed an agreement to acquire up to 100 per cent of J.F. Hillebrand Group AG and its subsidiaries at an equity value of around €1.5 billion. Hillebrand specialises in ocean freight forwarding, transport and logistics of beverages, non-hazardous bulk liquids and other products that require special care. Hillebrand generated revenue of around €1.4 billion in the last twelve months, will ship c.500,000 TEUs in 2021, and has more than 2,700 employees worldwide.
“With the growing maturity of our freight forwarding business, this bolt-on acquisition of Hillebrand is highly complementary to our existing portfolio. In line with our Group Strategy, we strengthen our core logistics business and deliver profitable long-term growth”, said Frank Appel, CEO Deutsche Post DHL Group. “Using our financial strength, we are able to pursue quality investments while reinforcing our unchanged commitment to deliver on investor return expectations.”
“After concentrating on improving the business operationally, we are now able to direct our core business towards sustainably higher margins by broadening our reach and service offering in specialised segments”, said Tim Scharwath, CEO DHL Global Forwarding, Freight. “In this context, Hillebrand is an exceptional opportunity and an excellent fit with our strategy. We are excited to work with the entire Hillebrand team to further develop their best-in-class business on our platform.”
“The acquisition of Hillebrand is a unique opportunity for Deutsche Post DHL Group to add high quality ocean freight services with strong margin characteristics and high cash flow generation. We expect this transaction to be earnings and cash flow accretive from day one”, confirms Melanie Kreis, CFO Deutsche Post DHL Group.
The transaction is subject to merger control clearance.
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