[110219.EN.BIZ] Panalpina's Major Shareholder Rejects DSV's US$4b Takeover Offer

SWISS provider of forwarding and logistics services Panalpina Welttransport Holding AG's largest shareholder has rejected a US$4.2 billion offer from Denmark's DSV.

The Panalpina committee of the Ernst Goehner Foundation, which holds 45.9 per cent of the stock, informed the company's board of directors that "it does not support the current non-binding proposal from DSV". However, it said that it backs the Panalpina board "in pursuing an independent growth strategy that includes mergers and acquisitions".

The Danish-Swiss combination would create the world's second-biggest air cargo firm and would rank fourth in the global logistics market. In airfreight, a combined DSV-Panalpina would become the world's number two.

The decision sent Panalpina shares tumbling as much as 9.1 per cent, the steepest intraday decline in four years, in Zurich trading, while DSV dropped 2.9 per cent in Copenhagen.

"The likelihood of no deal has increased, but likewise the chances of a higher offer increased as well," Michael Foeth, analyst at Vontobel Holding AG, wrote in a note.

DSV is emerging from a failed attempt to buy Swiss peer Ceva Logistics AG in 2018 and made an unsolicited cash-and-stock offer for Basel-based Panalpina last month.

DSV head of investor relations Flemming Nielsen declined to comment on the rejection. Chief Executive Officer Jens Bjorn Andersen said last month in an interview that the offer was "among the very best in our sector's history based on whichever multiple you look at."

Analysts and investors have said a higher bid for Panalpina from DSV or another company would likely be necessary for a successful takeover, reports Bloomberg.

Source : HKSG.