The European Commission has officially approved DSV’s acquisition of DB Schenker, moving forward a deal that will make the Danish logistics company the world’s largest freight forwarder.
DSV first announced its intent to purchase German logistics giant DB Schenker from Deutsche Bahn in September last year. The agreement, valued at €14.3 billion, has since gone through a series of regulatory reviews before reaching this stage.
According to the European Commission’s competition records, both the provisional deadline and final approval were marked on April 8. Deutsche Bahn had put DB Schenker up for sale in December 2023 after spending a year evaluating its strategic options. Once the sale plan was announced in September 2024, Deutsche Bahn’s supervisory board gave its approval in October.
Getting the green light from the EU was one of several required approvals. DSV also had to secure authorization from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, along with numerous other global regulators. A decision from the US Department of Justice is still pending.
The process has not been without complications. Labor unions expressed resistance to the deal, and there was a reported bid from private equity firm CVC, which tried to convince Deutsche Bahn to reconsider by offering a higher price.
Despite these developments, DSV said in February that it expects the acquisition to close in the second quarter of 2025. The company posted a strong performance in its airfreight segment last year, with cargo revenues rising 9 percent year-on-year to DKK 55.2 billion. Air volumes also increased by 7.1 percent to 1.4 million tonnes, although gross profits dipped 10.9 percent to DKK 11.9 billion.
DSV said the acquisition, its largest to date, will greatly enhance its air and sea logistics capabilities. The company stated that once integrated, the Air and Sea division will move more than 4 million TEU of sea freight and approximately 2.5 million tonnes of airfreight annually.