Kuehne + Nagel to buy US multimodal 3PL ReTrans

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Jun 25, 2015 5:33PM EDT

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The Kuehne + Nagel Group is lengthening its trans-Atlantic reach by acquiring ReTrans, a Memphis, Tennessee-based non-asset multimodal transportation brokerage with more than $500 million in annual revenue.

The purchase extends the reach of Kuehne + Nagel, the second-largest global 3PL, far beyond U.S. ports and into the nation's industrial heartland.

The acquisition is the latest of several in Europe and the U.S. reshaping the trans-Atlantic logistics market, including XPO Logistics’ acquisition in May of France’s Norbert Dentressangle and FedEx’s pending $4.8 billion acquisition of Netherlands-based TNT Express.

ReTrans will open inroads for Swiss-based Kuehne + Nagel into intermodal rail markets, truckload and less-than-truckload brokerage and transportation management services at U.S. and Canadian shippers. The company has 68 locations and more than 300 employees.

Kuehne + Nagel has more than 63,000 employees in more than 100 countries. In 2014, the company had $23.4 billion in revenue and ranked second among the 50 largest global 3PLs, following DHL Logistics, according to SJ Consulting Group.

“Combined with our strong sea freight, airfreight and contract logistics operations, this transaction will accelerate our growth,” Detlef Trefzger, CEO of the Kuehne + Nagel Group, said Thursday.  The acquisition builds on Kuehne + Nagel’s overland strategy, he said.

Kuehne + Nagel operates more than 5,000 trucks and tractor-trailers in Europe and has been building landside transportation services in South America, as well. With ReTrans, “our customers will benefit from comprehensive end-to-end supply chain solutions in North America,” said Trefzger.

ReTrans will deliver direct access to North American Railroad companies and expertise in intermodal transportation, Stefan Paul, executive vice president for overland at Kuehne + Nagel said. The acquisition also provides "an innovative less-than-truckload brokerage business and a platform to provide managed transportation services,” Paul said.

David Wedaman, president of ReTrans, will be in charge of both the ReTrans and Kuehne + Nagel overland business in the U.S., the companies said.

The acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, takes place against a backdrop of improved economic growth in Europe, the world’s largest contract logistics market.

U.S. logistics companies, buoyed by a strong dollar, have been looking at buying firms in Europe. But the Europeans are also looking to a faster-growing U.S. for opportunity. Even before XPO acquired Norbert Dentressangle, the French 3PL in 2014 purchased Des Moines, Iowa-based 3PL Jacobson.

By straddling both sides of the Atlantic, the world's largest 3PLs better position themselves for growth as the contract logistics market heats up. Europe, along with the U.S. and China, will drive a 6.8 percent compound annual growth of global contract logistics through 2018, U.K.-based Transport Intelligence forecasts.