Leading German trade union Ver.di has reportedly given its backing to the CVC-led private equity consortium bidding to take over DB Schenker over fears of job losses should DSV be successful.
According to Bloomberg, research from the union has indicated that more jobs would be lost at the forwarder because the company would be split into three entities.
Ver.di reckons more than 5,000 extra jobs would be lost if the Danish forwarder is successful.
DSV and the CVC-led consortium have reportedly individually put in binding bids of around €14bn for DB Schenkeras the race to buy Deutsche Bahn’s freight forwarding subsidiary has narrowed to just the two bidders from a group of four.
As well as a bid for €14bn, the CVC-led group has simultaneously discussed an offer of as much as €16bn for DB Schenker that could see the German government reinvesting about €3bn for an approximately 25% stake in the forwarder, according to Bloomberg.
A Deutsche Bahn spokesperson said: “The sales process for DB Schenker is confidential. We therefore do not comment on bidders, details of discussions or the amount of the bids. We will provide information of any decisions in due course. The most important criterion remains that a sale must be economically advantageous for Deutsche Bahn.”
The union outlined its findings in a letter to the Deutsche Bahn board.
The forwarding giant is being sold by Deutsche Bahn as it looks to reduce debts.
DVZ reported earlier this year that Deutsche Bahn had asked interested parties to demonstrate their experience with logistics M&A deals of this size and that they have the appropriate financial resources.
They must also explain what interest they have in Schenker and give an initial insight into their plans for the company if they were to win the contract.
The sales documents show that a complete sale is still the preferred option, although interest in less than 100% of the shares would be considered, so a partial sale is not completely ruled out either.