Panalpina Investor Rebuffs DSV's $4 Billion Takeover Offer

•  Rejection is setback for DSV after failing to buy Ceva
•  Analysts expect a higher price is needed to clinch a deal

Panalpina Welttransport Holding AG’s largest shareholder rejected a $4.2 billion offer from Denmark’s DSV A/S, saying the Swiss air-cargo company would do better with its own expansion plan.

The Panalpina committee of the Ernst Goehner Foundation, which holds 45.9 percent of the stock, said Monday in a statement it “supports Panalpina’s board of directors in pursuing an independent growth strategy that includes M&A.” The Danish-Swiss combination would create the world’s second-biggest air cargo firm and would rank fourth in the global logistics market

The decision sent Panalpina shares tumbling as much as 9.1 percent, the steepest intraday decline in four years, in Zurich trading, while DSV dropped 2.9 percent 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. Panalpina would give it a boost in air-cargo volumes and ocean-going containers, complementing the Danish company’s strength in road shipments.

DSV head of investor relations Flemming Nielsen declined to comment on the rejection. Chief Executive Officer Jens Bjorn Andersen said in a Jan. 16 interview 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.

Bloomberg.com