Building a delivery titan
Deutsche Post AG, the former German postal service that went public in 1995, keeps building its worldwide package and mail delivery empire. First it bought express delivery service DHL (2000), which it expanded into a major position in the US with its purchase of Airborne Express in 2003. DHL now rivals US leaders FedEx and UPS. Plus, the Deutsche Post Group has its own banking division.
Now Deutsche Post has announced its plans to acquire Exel PLC, a British-based leader in the global logistics market with operations in over 120 countries. The deal, for $6.7 billion, will make Deutsche Post #1 in this growing field, which is currently not very concentrated. Among the services included in global logistics are air and ocean shipping, customs brokerage, warehousing, and just-in-time delivery to stores and factories. The big money is in the Asia-to-US connection, a market where Exel is already strong.
Exel itself was formed through a dramatic roll-up of other related companies over the past few years, including:
2000
Merger of Exel and Ocean Group, a marine shipping company
Total Logistics Company, a healthcare logistics company
2001
US-based FX Coughlin, an auto manufacturing logistics specialist
Germany's Werthmann+ Koester, also an auto manufacturing logistics specialist
2002
US-based Power Logistics Systems
US-based United States Consolidation Limited
Austria's All Cargo Logistics
2003
South Africa's Eagle
Italy's Cappetti Spa
Brazil's Unidock, a healthcare logistics company
2004
UK's Tibbett & Britten
Italy's Pharma Logistics Group
Japan's Fujitsu Logistics Limited
2005
US packaging company Power Packaging
Gulping up little fish makes the medium-size fish all the tastier for a big shark.
Other major players in the logistics market include Menlo Worldwide, a division of US trucking giant CNF; APL Logistics, a division of Singapore-based shipping giant Neptune Orient Lines; CH Robison Worldwide, an independent company; and United Parcel Service (UPS), which has a logistics division.
This industry is not yet a real oligopoly, but it is heading that way. Big players from a variety of related industries, are looking to profit from their worldwide reach an expertise. Only the big can serve the big.
