Martin Placek
Research expert covering transportation and electronics
DSV Panalpina - statistics & facts
DSV Panalpina A/S (DSV A/S) is a Denmark-based global logistics and transport company. The story of the company emerges from two distinct origins, namely Panalpina Welttransport AG and DSV A/S. In 2019, DSV acquired Panalpina in a deal worth of 5.5 billion U.S. dollars and DSV aims at full integration of Panalpina into the head company.
Acquisition of Panalpina
Founded in 1935, Panalpina was a Switzerland-based supply chain, air, and ocean freight services provider across six continents. Panalpina experienced strong growth dynamics, becoming one of the leaders in the logistics industry by 2000s. When it comes to the operations of Panalpina prior to its acquisition by DSV, Panalpina was one of the largest forwarder of air and ocean freight. Until the acquisition in August 2019, during the first two quarters of 2019, Panalpina transported some 252,000 tons of air freight worldwide. During the same period, the ocean freight traffic of Panalpina amounted to roughly 371,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) globally.DSV's business operations
Since its establishment in 1976, the progressive strategy of DSV enabled the company to keep up with the pace of change in the global logistics and transportation market. Thus, enabling the company to become a world leader. For instance, since 2013 DSV increased the volume of air and sea freight traffic steadily. In 2020, DSV transported over 1.2 million metric tons of air freight and, above 2.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of ocean freight. During that period, DSV generated globally almost 116 billion Danish kroner, which is approximately 19 billion U.S. dollars. The acquisition of a large company like Panalpina supported DSV to enhance its market presence in the logistics and transportation industry.DSV Panalpina's strategy
International competition in the logistics industry is quite fierce and market entrants develop innovative strategies to beat the other competitor. As it can be assumed, the acquisition of Panalpina by DSV was to enhance the market position of DSV against others in the global market for logistics and transportation. Based on gross logistics revenue, DSV Panalpina was ranked the fifth-largest logistics provider in 2020. Since both firms excelled at somewhat distinct strategy profiles to remain competitive, the making of DSV Panalpina could be promising for the company in upcoming years. Nonetheless, not all multinational corporation acquisitions become successful due to the convoluted nature of trying to integrate two multinational companies into one. Yet, if successful, in upcoming years DSV Panalpina could possibly beat some of the largest competitors in the market, such as Kuehne + Nagel, DB Schenker, and Deutsche Post DHL. Therefore, we could potentially expect higher growth of DSV Panalpina in years to come.
