DB Schenker sale gets go-ahead

News 19 Dec 2022 by WCN Editorial

The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn AG has mandated the Management Board to draw up and prepare the sale of up to 100% of DB Schenker AG

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There are no surprises here; the decision was taken last Wednesday, as widely anticipated. Indeed, a sale has been on the cards since the “traffic light” coalition took over in Berlin in late 2020.

As matters stand, the potential sale receipts will remain with DB AG and used to reduce debt and taxpayers’ exposure, The question now is: who will be the potential buyer? Germany’s Manager Magazin has speculated that Deutsche Post DHL could be in the frame as it would create a very large, all-German multimodal solution.

Surely this would pose competition problems? On the other hand, it was also mentioned that Deutsche Post DHL fears that Maersk or DSV Panalpina will buy DB Schenker, but again this would surely raise competition issues.

No date has been set for starting the preparation for sale of the business and there is still a caveat – a sale has to be judged to be more “advantageous” than keeping DB Schenker within DB AG, which allows for the possibility of “rowing back.”

The Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Martin Burkert, who is Deputy Chairman of the main trade union in the railway and is a former SDP member of the Bundestag, expects a final decision in Q2 2023.

His main concern is that funds raised by the sale remain with DB AG and that the “jobs are safe.” A sale would certainly help DB AG to reduce debt, which stands at more than €30.5B.