FedEx in talks to buy DHL stake
FedEx reportedly is in talks to buy all or part of Deutsche Post’s DHL delivery business in the U.S. in a deal that would help it challenge larger rival UPS.
Seeking to cut losses in the hyper-competitive domestic fast delivery business, Deutsche Post may move to trim its DHL business in the United States, without abandoning it completely, according to published reports on Friday.
Deutsche Post CFO John Allan was quoted by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper, that a total sale of DHL in the U.S. is “very, very unlikely.”
A deal could be in the works by May at the latest, according to the report.
Shares of FedEx rose 1.6% to end at USD89.96, bucking the move down in the overall market. UPS fell 1.8% to USD69.97.
A spokesman for Memphis-based FedEx didn’t return a phone call from MarketWatch.
Analyst Rick Paterson of UBS said FedEx doesn’t really need DHL’s U.S. delivery assets, and that it simply has to wait for it to lose ground over time to eventually win over its domestic market share.
FedEx, however, would benefit if DHL allowed it to become the U.S. distributor of its hefty package traffic originating in Europe and Asia, he said.
FedEx would have the edge in any talks because Deutsche Post is under pressure from shareholders to produce some kind of value for DHL.
A deal between DHL and UPS is less likely because of the “more contentious relationship” between the two giants overseas, he said.
One of the world’s largest delivery companies with 4,000 offices, DHL traces its roots to 1969 in the U.S. before being acquired by Deutsche Post in 2002.
FedEx reportedly is in talks to buy all or part of Deutsche Post’s DHL delivery business in the U.S. in a deal that would help it challenge larger rival UPS.
Seeking to cut losses in the hyper-competitive domestic fast delivery business, Deutsche Post may move to trim its DHL business in the United States, without abandoning it completely, according to published reports on Friday.
Deutsche Post CFO John Allan was quoted by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper, that a total sale of DHL in the U.S. is “very, very unlikely.”
A deal could be in the works by May at the latest, according to the report.
Shares of FedEx rose 1.6% to end at USD89.96, bucking the move down in the overall market. UPS fell 1.8% to USD69.97.
A spokesman for Memphis-based FedEx didn’t return a phone call from MarketWatch.
Analyst Rick Paterson of UBS said FedEx doesn’t really need DHL’s U.S. delivery assets, and that it simply has to wait for it to lose ground over time to eventually win over its domestic market share.
FedEx, however, would benefit if DHL allowed it to become the U.S. distributor of its hefty package traffic originating in Europe and Asia, he said.
FedEx would have the edge in any talks because Deutsche Post is under pressure from shareholders to produce some kind of value for DHL.
A deal between DHL and UPS is less likely because of the “more contentious relationship” between the two giants overseas, he said.
One of the world’s largest delivery companies with 4,000 offices, DHL traces its roots to 1969 in the U.S. before being acquired by Deutsche Post in 2002.
