International Maritime

Targeted takeovers driving M & A among smaller global forwarders

By Greg Knowler

While Danish forwarder DSV’ s $ 16.25 billion all-cash acquisition of DB Schenker in April may have captured the headlines, there is vigorous M & A activity among second-tier forwarders searching for inorganic growth in a tariff-disrupted and slowing global economy.

Valuations have come down from sky-high postpandemic levels, and forwarders are either making strategic takeovers or actively seeking acquisitions to grow scale, plug holes in networks or expand into new markets.

“ The market is soft, and organic growth is hard to come by now, so inorganic growth may be the best option,” said Marc Iampieri, global co-leader of logistics and transportation at business advisory firm AlixPartners.

“ Freight forwarders will survive this short-term challenge, and the strongest will end up with more market share and better solutions to squeeze some of the smaller ones out,” Iampieri told the Journal of Commerce.

Burkhard Eling, CEO of Kempten, Germany-based Dachser said the forwarder has made eight acquisitions in the last two years, bringing in $ 1 billion in revenue.

“ There will be more to come, that’ s for sure,” he told the Journal of Commerce.“ Last year we had 5 % organic growth plus 8 % inorganic growth from the acquisitions.”

Eling said Dachser is focusing on markets outside Europe because they are growing faster.“ We want to build up a global groupage network in air and sea logistics that enables us to serve markets in and out of Europe as well as in America and Asia, focusing on high value products in verticals such as tech, fashion, sports, equipment and DIY, where we have a big presence,” he said.

Aggressive expansion

Denmark-based Scan Global Logistics has also been highly active in the M & A department. Rene Bergerling, senior director of business management in Europe, Middle East and Africa at Scan, said 30 countries have been added to its controlled network in the past few years.

“ In our industry, big is beautiful and customers expect us to have our own offices globally and have end-to-end control of their cargo that minimizes their risk,” Bergerling said.“ We are continuously searching for companies that match our DNA and have the right people, because we are up against the big guys and finding the right people is very important.”

Expanding capabilities and strengthening its customer base justify Toll Group’ s acquisition of forwarder Transolve

With organic growth slowing and valuations falling, forwarders are looking to scale via M & A. Kittyfly / Shutterstock. com

Global, an Australia-based wine, bulk liquids and perishables specialist.

The terms of the deal remain undisclosed, but Suhail Qureshi, interim president of Toll Global Forwarding, pointed to the M & A price Toll has set for takeovers.

“ From a size perspective, we’ re owned by Japan Post, which is fairly large, so we’ re not restricted in terms of size, although probably a sweet spot would be a company with revenue of around $ 250 to $ 300 million,” Qureshi said after finalizing the Transolve purchase in early June.

“ We are looking globally and not restricting ourselves to a particular geography, and our key focus areas right now are Germany and the Netherlands in Europe, plus Southeast Asia and the US,” he added.

Qureshi said Toll’ s M & A strategy was to target companies with expertise in a specific area or key vertical, such as food and wine, healthcare, technology and industrials.

Recent notable targeted acquisitions from smaller forwarders included Illinois-headquartered AIT Worldwide Logistics’ agreement in January to take over St. Louis-based high-value good forwarder Krupp Trucking. That same month, Arizona-based Q Logistics Holdings offered $ 1.2 billion Dubai-headquartered Aramex, which has a global presence in express delivery and e-commerce.

In February, Japan Post acquired integrated logistics provider Tonami Holdings for $ 630 million, while Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, from Germany, acquired Los Angeles-based HPL Apollo, strengthening its perishable logistics market position and expanding its presence in the Americas. Meanwhile, German forwarder, Arvato, acquired third-party logistics provider Carbel and United Customs Services, both US-based, growing its US reach into e-commerce and growing its fashion, beauty and lifestyle logistics service.

Despite the many acquisitions, AlixPartners’ Iampieri noted that securing finance was not always easy.

“ Financial buyers are afraid of the tariff risks and have the option of passing on this [ forwarding ] industry,” he said.“ Financing is tough now for all buyers, but more so for financial buyers that must convince lenders to believe the tariff risks are small.”

email: greg. knowler @ spglobal. com www. joc. com July 7, 2025 | Journal of Commerce 17