Post by Sebastian Reimann

There is a certain advantage to carrying your founding date directly in your company name — as De Sammensluttede Vognmænd af 13.7.1976 A/S, today better known as DSV – Global Transport and Logistics, can attest. It ensured that the company's 50th anniversary, celebrated in grand style at its headquarters in Hedehusene this past Monday, could hardly slip by unnoticed. Among those in attendance was Leif Tullberg, the company's first CEO. Several of the nine founding entrepreneurs and their families also remain connected to the business — as shareholders, DSV confirmed to DVZ Deutsche Verkehrs-Zeitung on request. The Danes declined to disclose the exact size of their current stake, though it is safe to assume that, over the decades, their investment has yielded more than a few kroner. DSV's growth story is arguably unmatched in the logistics industry when it comes to its reliance on acquisitions: from DFDS Dan Transport Group to ABX Logistics, UTI Worldwide, Panalpina, Agility Logistics, and most recently Schenker. In Germany, DSV has been active since 1990 and has pursued an equally aggressive acquisition-driven expansion strategy, particularly since 2004 — with purchases including Boes Spedition und Logistik, Viktoria Transport Holding, Spedition Steinle, J.H. Bachmann, and the groupage division of Rudolph Logistik Gruppe. Opinions on DSV's relentless expansion course are divided. Some view the leadership team around CEO Jens Lund as ruthless efficiency maximisers — executives who, with each acquisition, shed parts of the workforce and accept that a comparatively large share of the acquired customer base will walk out the door. Others question whether DSV is even capable of organic growth, and whether its model will eventually run out of road for want of suitable acquisition targets. Yet there is little doubt that DSV's 50-year journey represents one of — if not the — defining growth stories in the global logistics industry, and that the company has shaped the sector more profoundly than almost any other player. What is your view? #DVZ #logistics #forwarding #acquisitions