I'm on vacation this week however I've been reading my emails of course and keeping on top of our business and I noticed a bulletin with some quite big news - DSV Air & Sea have agreed to purchase the total share capital of SBS Worldwide, the hitherto independent and it has to be said, pretty dynamic mid-sized freight forwarder which made its name on USA-UK Eastbound air freight and LCL ocean services from Chicago and New York in particular.
I'm just really surprised that SBS even agreed to the deal as they seemed to be very successful and almost maverick in their approach. Having been through several freight forwarding integrations/mergers myself (WTC Air Freight & Burlington Air Express, Air Express International and Danzas and latterly DHL Global Forwarding and Exel Freight Management) I know how they can disrupt business.
This happens because:-
1. Staff at both companies feel there may be redundancies and begin to leave
2. When the businesses are physically integrated, operations and service are often affected and customers can decide to leave
3. The cultures can be very different and this can take years to resolve itself
4. Often, the good people at the company being bought decide to leave and take customers with them, devaluing the asset which has been acquired
I dont know whether any timetables have been set for the integration but I cannot see DSV letting SBS run as a separate entity.
Certainly one to watch.
Kind Regards
Andy Cliff
http://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/dsv-acquires-sbs-worldwide-holdings/20018069312.htm?source=ezine&utm_source=Lloyd%27s+Loading+List+Daily+News+Bulletin&utm_campaign=ce495c9de7-LLL_Thurs_29_Aug8_29_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1a5c244239-ce495c9de7-256747097
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