DESCRIBED as the most high-profile development in the forwarding sector in the past 12 months, the acquisition of Panalpina by DSV has produced the world's third largest forwarder by revenue, and a rival for market leaders Kuehne + Nagel and DHL, according to the UK's Transport Intelligence (Ti) data,
'The reasons for the merger are fundamentally not complicated. Panalpina's profits, if anything, have fallen since 2014, while in contrast DSV's more than doubled. DSV has grown through a combination of acquisition and organic growth. It has been highly successful at integrating its, often large acquisitions, rapidly.
'Therefore, it was logical that DSV continue this approach, while Panalpina was the right size and offered reasonably complementary in terms of geographical and vertical sector positioning,' the Ti report said.
The new analysis goes on to reveal the top 20 forwarders globally account for 57.5 per cent of the market. Forwarding is an easy market to enter, but consolidation among the world's largest players, dedicated vertical sector offerings and investments in IT systems have all helped the largest players build significant scale and market share.
'When DSV Panalpina comes to the market as a combined entity in late 2019, the top five players will account for more than 27 per cent of the global marketplace,' the report added.
'As the first half of 2019 draws to a close, the forwarding sector remains the focus of rumours about further acquisition activity by the larger forwarding companies. The rationale is generally economies of scale or the need for greater exposure to global markets, either geographic or vertical,' said Ti research chief Ti Nick Bailey.
'With the new DSV Panalpina set to be a credible contender rival to both Kuehne + Nagel and DHL in almost all markets, other large forwarders will be feeling pressure to keep up,' he said.
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'The reasons for the merger are fundamentally not complicated. Panalpina's profits, if anything, have fallen since 2014, while in contrast DSV's more than doubled. DSV has grown through a combination of acquisition and organic growth. It has been highly successful at integrating its, often large acquisitions, rapidly.
'Therefore, it was logical that DSV continue this approach, while Panalpina was the right size and offered reasonably complementary in terms of geographical and vertical sector positioning,' the Ti report said.
The new analysis goes on to reveal the top 20 forwarders globally account for 57.5 per cent of the market. Forwarding is an easy market to enter, but consolidation among the world's largest players, dedicated vertical sector offerings and investments in IT systems have all helped the largest players build significant scale and market share.
'When DSV Panalpina comes to the market as a combined entity in late 2019, the top five players will account for more than 27 per cent of the global marketplace,' the report added.
'As the first half of 2019 draws to a close, the forwarding sector remains the focus of rumours about further acquisition activity by the larger forwarding companies. The rationale is generally economies of scale or the need for greater exposure to global markets, either geographic or vertical,' said Ti research chief Ti Nick Bailey.
'With the new DSV Panalpina set to be a credible contender rival to both Kuehne + Nagel and DHL in almost all markets, other large forwarders will be feeling pressure to keep up,' he said.
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