Status: 09/09/2022 1:33 p.m
According to co-chairman of the supervisory board Hommel, Deutsche Bahn is planning to sell its highly profitable logistics subsidiary Schenker. Apparently, both a possible direct sale and an IPO are in the room.
Deutsche Bahn could part with a large part of its international business. The sale of the logistics division Schenker is being prepared internally, said the chairman of the railway and transport union (EVG), Klaus-Dieter Hommel, today German press agency. Hommel, who currently also heads the supervisory board of the state-owned company, thus confirmed corresponding media reports.
The news agency Reuters reported yesterday that the federal government had decided to sell the logistics subsidiary after a long struggle, citing government and industry representatives. A working group from the federal government and the railways is said to have recently made the fundamental decision.
Hommel criticizes plans as “economic nonsense”
Apparently, the supervisory board of the railways should approve the separation from Schenker this year if possible, probably in a special meeting. Both a direct sale and an IPO should be examined as options. One does not want to be put under time pressure, a sale is only conceivable in 2024.
Neither the leading Federal Ministry of Transport nor the railways initially wanted to comment on the possible plans. “The planned sale is economic nonsense,” criticized Hommel. Schenker supplies 30 percent of group sales and generates stable profits. The railway is also wasting the opportunity to be a powerful provider in international freight transport.
In the first half of 2022, the Essen-based logistics service provider achieved an operating profit of almost 1.2 billion euros, putting the entire group back in the black. In the wake of the Corona crisis and tense supply chains, logisticians were in demand, the prices for sea and especially air freight rose sharply.
Management has been skeptical so far
The value of the company is currently estimated in financial market circles at twelve to 20 billion euros. It is heavily dependent on the global economy and the effects of the Ukraine war. The list of potential buyers for the Bahn subsidiary is long. After all, Schenker is still one of the biggest competitors in the fragmented logistics market. Conceivable buyers are the container shipping company Maersk and the logistics groups Kühne+Nagel and DSV from Denmark.
CEO Richard Lutz has so far been reluctant to sell the division. For economic reasons, the management of Deutsche Bahn has long been opposed to the project. The former chairman of the supervisory board, Michael Odenwald, was skeptical about such a move. However, he resigned his post at the end of July because the relationship of trust with Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) was apparently disturbed.
According to government and industry circles, the successor will be Werner Gatzer, Secretary of State for Finance for many years, who is already a member of the supervisory board as a government representative. Getting a sales process off the ground could be one of Gatzer’s major tasks.
The FDP and the Greens want the railways to be concentrated
In the traffic light coalition, the FDP and the Greens are in favor of a railway company that focuses on passenger and freight transport in Germany. The aim is for the state-owned company to become more efficient and transparent. Critics of today’s group structure consider the network of hundreds of subsidiaries and holdings to be almost inscrutable and difficult to manage.
In addition, the railway group, which is highly indebted at over 30 billion euros, is under great economic pressure and needs money for investments. The attempt to sell the international local transport subsidiary Arriva had similar reasons. However, the project has failed so far, and the hoped-for proceeds could not be achieved.
Schenker acquired the railway 20 years ago for around 2.5 billion euros when it bought the Stinnes Group. Ten years earlier, Deutsche Bahn had already sold its daughter. DB Schenker offers transport for industry and trade. 74,200 employees work for the group at 2,100 locations worldwide.