Kuehne+Nagel International AG
Acquisitions
3
Major Deals Covered
This page covers 3 major deals from 2018 to 2024, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick International Courier | 2018 | Undisclosed | Attempting to establish a dominant position in the healthcare logistics sector, Kuehne+Nagel acquired Quick International Courier, a specialized provider of time-critical, temperature-controlled biological shipments. The strategic rationale was to build proprietary cold-chain capabilities serving the life sciences sector, which offered higher margins and more resilient demand than standard commercial freight. |
| Apex International | 2021 | Undisclosed | Kuehne+Nagel acquired Apex International, an Asia-based air freight forwarder strong on transpacific and intra-Asia lanes, to expand Air Logistics capacity and its e-commerce and high-tech customer base. |
| IMC Logistics (51% stake) | 2024 | Undisclosed | Kuehne+Nagel acquired a 51% majority stake in IMC Logistics, the largest marine drayage provider in the United States and a long-time partner, adding yard operations at key US port and rail hubs to its sea logistics network. The IMC brand was retained. |
2024
Kuehne+Nagel acquired a 51% majority stake in IMC Logistics, the largest marine drayage provider in the United States and a long-time partner, adding yard operations at key US port and rail hubs to its sea logistics network. The IMC brand was retained.
2021
Kuehne+Nagel acquired Apex International, an Asia-based air freight forwarder strong on transpacific and intra-Asia lanes, to expand Air Logistics capacity and its e-commerce and high-tech customer base.
The deal significantly increased Kuehne+Nagel's air freight volumes out of Asia during a period of scarce capacity.
Apex helped make Air Logistics a larger part of the group; by 2025 Kuehne+Nagel ranked No. 1 globally in air freight volume.
2018
Attempting to establish a dominant position in the healthcare logistics sector, Kuehne+Nagel acquired Quick International Courier, a specialized provider of time-critical, temperature-controlled biological shipments. The strategic rationale was to build proprietary cold-chain capabilities serving the life sciences sector, which offered higher margins and more resilient demand than standard commercial freight.
Added specialist time-critical and temperature-controlled courier capabilities for life sciences customers.
Quick strengthened Kuehne+Nagel's healthcare logistics offering.
Under CEO Stefan Paul, Kuehne+Nagel is pursuing volume-led market share gains (notably in Air Logistics), cost reduction, and AI deployment across booking, customs and back-office processes, overseen by a Chief AI and Innovation Officer. It also targets verticals with higher switching costs such as healthcare, semiconductors and aerospace, and adds capability through bolt-on deals such as the 2024 majority stake in US drayage provider IMC Logistics.
Kuehne+Nagel earns a spread between what it pays carriers and what it charges shippers, plus fees for customs, documentation, warehousing and supply-chain management. It runs four business units: Sea Logistics (ocean freight forwarding, its largest unit by volume), Air Logistics (time-critical, healthcare, perishables and high-tech cargo), Road Logistics (mainly European and North American overland transport) and Contract Logistics (warehousing, fulfilment and value-added services). Because it owns few ships, aircraft or trucks, profit depends on gross profit per container or tonne and on cost control, which is why management reports conversion rate (EBIT as a share of gross profit) as a core metric.
In May 2021, Kuehne+Nagel completed the acquisition of Apex International Corporation for $1.5 billion, the largest acquisition in company history. The deal dramatically expanded Kuehne+Nagel's airfreight capacity and e-commerce logistics across the Asia-Pacific and Trans-Pacific trade lanes.
In 2023, Kuehne+Nagel acquired South African freight forwarder Morgan Cargo, expanding its global cold-chain perishables logistics network across South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Kenya.
In March 2024, Kuehne+Nagel acquired City Zone Express, a premier overland cross-border road logistics provider in Southeast Asia, expanding high-speed trucking corridors connecting Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and China.
In 2017, Kuehne+Nagel acquired Masterpiece International, a leading US customs brokerage and specialized logistics provider for fine arts, vintage automobiles, and high-value luxury goods.
In 2018, Kuehne+Nagel acquired Quick International Courier, a top global provider of time-critical aviation and healthcare logistics, specializing in urgent organ transport, personalized cancer treatments, and AOG aerospace parts.
In 2011, Kuehne+Nagel acquired Grupo Eichenberg, a major integrated logistics provider in Brazil, establishing an extensive domestic road freight and contract logistics footprint across South America.
In 2020, Kuehne+Nagel strategically divested a major portion of its UK temperature-controlled contract logistics portfolio to XPO Logistics, focusing capital on high-margin e-commerce, pharma, and technology supply chains.
Kuehne+Nagel avoids debt-fueled mega-mergers, pursuing targeted, highly accretive bolt-on acquisitions in specialized verticals (perishables, pharma, cross-border trucking, Asia-Pacific airfreight) that can be smoothly integrated onto its unified IT backbone.
To maintain their absolute global monopoly, they execute massive, highly targeted acquisitions. In 2021, they executed the largest acquisition in their entire history: buying Apex International (a massive Asian freight forwarder) for roughly $1.2 billion. This instantly gave Kuehne + Nagel absolute dominance over the highly lucrative transpacific air-freight routes out of China.
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