DSV Panalpina has announced the acquisition of one of the world’s top freight forwarding and contract logistics providers (3PL), Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL), for US$4.2 billion.
The GIL acquisition comes two years after the acquisition of Swiss-based Panalpina by DSV, which is known for its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) strategy.
With the acquisition of GIL, DSV Panalpina will become the world’s third largest transport and logistics company with a combined pro forma revenue of approximately US$22 billion, an increase of around 23%, and a combined workforce of more than 70,000 employees.
In 2020, GIL had US$4 billion in revenue, mainly related to air & sea freight and a workforce of approximately 17,000 employees. Therefore the Air & Sea-division, the largest division of DSV Panalpina, will be substantially strengthened with the acquisition of GIL and will consolidate its rank among the largest providers globally with close to 2.8 million TEU and more than 1.6 million tonnes of air freight transported annually.
The contract logistics capabilities, which are increasingly important due to complex supply chains and changing distribution channels, will strengthen DSV’s Solutions division with GIL’s additional warehousing capacity of more than 1.4 million m2, mainly in APAC and the Middle East, according to a statement.
Furthermore, the Danish transport and logistics company said that GIL will add road freight activities to DSV’s network in both Europe and the Middle East and thereby increase the company’s competitiveness across all three divisions.
“The combination of our two global networks will provide us with the opportunity to offer our customers an even higher service level. GIL’s strong market position in APAC and the Middle East complements DSV’s network well and will support our long-term value creation ambitions,” commented Group CEO of DSV Panalpina, Jens Bjørn Andersen.
DSV Panalpina and GIL expect to close the transaction in the third quarter of the current year provided conditions are met and necessary approvals are obtained. Until then, DSV Panalpina and GIL will continue to operate separately and independently.
