Schenker completes Polish acquisition

Stinnes Logistics has announced that it has increased its exposure in eastern Europe through the acquisition of a further stake in Polish logistics provider Spedpol. The purchase of a further 29% of Spedpol’s shares was concluded in December between BTL AB, (a wholly owned subsidiary of Schenker) and the Polish government. It brings Schenker’s holding in the company to 99.2% with the remaining 0.8 % shares held by individual shareholders.

Spedpol is one of the largest players in the Polish market. It has a turnover of around €52m, employs about 1,000 staff and claims to be growing at 20% per year. It specialises in groupage consignments and has in place a comprehensive network throughout Poland. It also feeds into Schenker’s European Land Transport network.

The move marks another step by western European logistics companies towards integrating the accession countries to the EU into their European networks. Stinnes is particularly well placed and is already a market leader in a number of the Central and Eastern European countries. When announcing the acquisition, Stinnes Chief Executive stressed that although the accession of the eastern European candidate countries into the EU would bring risks, it would also bring enormous opportunities for most EU and Polish companies.