Deutsche Post DHL Group to acquire J.F. Hillebrand Group

 Deutsche Post DHL Group to acquire J.F. Hillebrand Group

Deutsche Post DHL Group (“DPDHL”) has signed an agreement to acquire up to 100 percent of J.F. Hillebrand Group AG (“Hillebrand”) and its subsidiaries at an equity value of around €1.5 billion. Hillebrand generated revenue of around €1.4 billion in the last twelve months, will ship 500,000 TEUs in 2021, and has more than 2,700 employees worldwide. 

Hillebrand is a global service provider specialized in ocean freight forwarding, transport and logistics of beverages, non-hazardous bulk liquids and other products that require special care. The strategic combination of Hillebrand with DHL’s Global Forwarding, Freight (“DHL”) division will strengthen the Group’s position in the dynamic ocean freight forwarding market. 

“With the growing maturity of our freight forwarding business, this bolt-on acquisition of Hillebrand is highly complementary to our existing portfolio. In line with our Group Strategy, we strengthen our core logistics business and deliver profitable long-term growth”, says Frank Appel, CEO Deutsche Post DHL Group. “Using our financial strength, we are able to pursue quality investments while reinforcing our unchanged commitment to deliver on investor return expectations.” 

“After concentrating on improving the business operationally, we are now able to direct our core business towards sustainably higher margins by broadening our reach and service offering in specialized segments”, notes Tim Scharwath, CEO DHL Global Forwarding, Freight. “In this context, Hillebrand is an exceptional opportunity and an excellent fit with our strategy. We are excited to work with the entire Hillebrand team to further develop their best-in-class business on our platform.”

DHL will benefit from Hillebrand’s know-how and customer experience in bulk liquids and other adjacent special care commodities, to leverage the positive underlying growth pattern of these products. It also offers a wide range of value-added services, which will now be available to DHL customers, driving continuous outstanding service quality and exceptional customer experience. These services include industry leading customer facing tools with best in class IT systems, as well as end-to-end service offers in the fast-growing bulk liquids segments, including own flexitank productions being the industry benchmark in this sector. 

Hillebrand will in turn benefit from DHL Global Forwarding, Freight’s large scale network in over 190 countries and global forwarding expertise in air, ocean and road freight to ensure strong development opportunities for the business, and its employees.