DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators, has announced the acquisition of 100 percent of Denmark’s Unifeeder Group for 660 million Euros ($762.6 million) from Nordic Capital Fund VIII and certain minority shareholders.
The acquisition will boost DP World’s presence in the global supply chain and broaden its product offering to its customers, shipping lines and cargo owners, DP World said.
“The current operations of Unifeeder are complementary to DP World’s existing business and provides future growth opportunities,” it said.
Based in Aarhus, Denmark, Unifeeder operates the largest and most densely connected common user container feeder and an important and growing shortsea network in Europe, serving both deep-sea container hubs and the intra-Europe container freight market.
The Group reported revenue of 510 million Euros in 2017 and EBIT margins in line with other asset-light logistics operators.
Commenting on the announcement, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, said: "We are delighted to add the Unifeeder brand under the DP World umbrella, which supports our strategy to grow in complementary sectors, strengthen our product offering and play a wider role in the global supply chain as a trade enabler."
"The ever-growing deployment of ultra-large container vessels has made high-quality connectivity from hub terminals crucial for our customers and Unifeeder is a best-in-class logistics provider in this space with a strong reputation in Europe.”
“Our aim is to leverage on the in-house expertise of Unifeeder and to accelerate growth in this scalable platform to deliver value for all stakeholders. Unifeeder operates on the same common-user principle as DP World and adds to the Group’s strong value proposition to international shipping lines and end cargo owners in making the global supply chain more efficient and cost effective," Bin Sulayem added.
Jesper Kristensen, CEO of Unifeeder A/S, said DP World and the Danish logistics company have commonality in their business models.
“We also share the vision of serving our customers through removing inefficiencies and delivering sustainable shareholder value,” he said.
"We have enjoyed great success over the last five years under Nordic Capital’s ownership, and we believe that the Unifeeder brand within the DP World Group has the opportunity to accelerate growth, expand further and take the business to the next level,” Kristensen added.
