Logistics Group Acquires Another International Freight Forwarder as Promised

DENMARK – JAPAN – POLAND – CHINA – It seems the acquisition of freight forwarder Panalpina in 2019 by DSV has not quenched the thirst for more by the logistics outfit. The boss of the Hedehusene headquartered company, Chairman Thomas Plenborg said this time last year that, when the dust settled on the Panalpina deal, more of the same would be considered in '12 to 18 months', and so it has come to pass.

DSV has bought Prime Cargo from the Mitsui-Soko Group in Japan and the acquisition includes Prime Cargo’s international activities. Prime, a freight forwarding company which offers tailored cargo, warehousing and logistics solutions, is headquartered in Kolding, Denmark, but operates internationally and has activities in both Poland and China.

DSV says the attraction was due to ‘the company’s high degree of specialisation within selected verticals where DSV Panalpina has little activity’, and it has long admired its strong competencies in the field of e-commerce and fashion retail, of which the current fashion product setup in China plays an important part. The deal offers opportunities for both, with Prime Cargo described as ‘a perfect fit’ for DSV Panalpina’s Danish Solutions division and Air & Sea division respectively. Henrik Nielsen, Executive Vice President, DSV Air & Sea, Northern Europe, said:

“Together, we can offer our customers much more. We will strengthen the product offerings to our combined global customer portfolios, which will have a global one-stop service with great value-adding services.”

The new purchase operates fully automated, state-of-the-art e-commerce warehouses, a technology that DSV is familiar with and recently installed in a new warehouse in Oslo, Norway. DSV envisages the collaboration of staff will have the ability to accelerate its own e-commerce service offerings on a much larger scale. Managing director of Prime Cargo, Morten Høilund, welcomed the acquisition, saying:

“We are proud that DSV Panalpina values Prime Cargo’s strong competencies within e-commerce and fashion and that these will act as cornerstones in the growth strategy for the Danish organisations. We believe the acquisition provides a unique opportunity to link our industry focus with DSV’s global network.”

The transaction is expected to complete within 2-3 months subject to customary conditions, including clearance by applicable competition authorities. Until then Prime Cargo and DSV Panalpina will conduct their businesses as usual and independently.

Photo: Automation is high on the Prime Cargo agenda.