Denmark's DSV has raised $5.5 billion (€4.99 billion) in a shareissue to partially finance its acquisition of Schenker, a deal that would make it the world's biggest logistics company.
Last month, DSV agreed to buy Schenker, the logistics arm of German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn, for €14.3 billion ($15.76 billion).
New shares were sold at DKK 1,410.5 each, in line with Thursday's stock market close, raising DKK 37.3 billion (€5 billion), equivalent to 12.3% of its market value of some DKK 300 billion (€40.2 billion), DSV said in a statement.
DSV had previously said the deal to buy Schenker would be financed through a combination of an equity raising of up to €5 billion and debt financing.
The Deal
Deutsche Bahn's supervisory board on Wednesday (2 October) approved the sale of Schenker to DSV, fending off union opposition and pushback from rival bidder CVC.
Deutsche Bahn put up Schenker for sale last year to concentrate on its core railway business in Germany and reduce its debt.
BNP Paribas, Danske Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan and Nordea were joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners in the share issue, DSV said.
DSV has posted preliminary third-quarter operating profit of DKK 4.4 billion (€590 million) and narrowed its 2024 operating profit outlook to an interval of DKK 16 billion-17 billion (€2.14 - 2.28 billion) from DKK 15.5 billion-17 billion (€2.08 - €2.28 billion) previously.
The results and outlook were broadly in line with market consensus, Bernstein analysts said in a research note.
