Once the acquisition of the European company has been finalised, DFDS is expected to quadruple its cold chain business and create the leading North European cold chain logistics provider. DFDS, the Danish shipping and logistics company, has agreed to buy cold chain logistics provider HSF Logistics Group in a deal worth DKr2.2bn ($358.8m).
It said it was making the debt-free purchase, which will create northern Europe’s leading cold chain logistics provider, through a newly established and wholly owned subsidiary.
HSF Logistics group, a family-owned business that specialises in offering services to meat producers and other food producers operating in controlled temperature supply chains, employs 1,800 people and has annual revenue of around DKr2.8bn.
DFDS employs around 8,000 people and reports annual revenues of €1.9bn ($2.3bn) across its entire group.
The purchase will give DFDS 700 trucks and 1,700 reefers operating out of 22 locations, it said.
“Adding the HSF Logistics Group to the existing activities expands the geographical scope to the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Germany and southern Europe, as well as China and Morocco. In addition, it adds expertise in meat logistics to DFDS’ expertise in aquaculture/seafood and general food logistics,” DFDS said.
Following the deal, DFDS’s cold chain logistics revenues will account for around half of the DKr8bn in anticipated revenues from its logistics division.
DFDS chief financial officer Karina Deacon told a presentation the company hopes to have finalised the deal in about three months, pending regulatory approval.
The financial structure of the deal means DFDS’s financial leverage will remain essentially unchanged, she said.
DFDS chief executive Torben Carlsen said it was too early to offer details on expected synergies from the acquisition.
“It is not an acquisition driven by cost synergies,” he said, adding DFDS plans to fully integrate HSF into its operations.
HSF Logistics Group chief executive Martin Gade Gregersen said the deal would give his company access to new growth opportunities.
“It enables us to offer customers wider market coverage and use our combined expertise to develop even more efficient and reliable solutions,” he said.
Source: Lloyd´s
