DSV scraps plans to acquire DFDS over EU anti-trust probe

DSV, Scandinavia's leading trucking and logistics group, has abandoned plans to take joint control of short sea shipping line DFDS, after European anti-trust legislators scrutinised the deal.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, said last week it would begin a comprehensive analysis of the deal after an initial investigation indicated it might impede competition in the European short sea shipping sector, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce.

The response came in the form of a u-turn after the companies expressed reluctance to be subject to the EU's in-depth investigation, despite DSV saying that it does not believe its joint bid with JL-Fondet, the majority shareholder in DFDS, to take over the Copenhagen short sea carrier, would cause any competition concerns, the report said.

DSV chairman Kurt Larsen was quoted as saying that the Commission's decision "has been really rough to us, a real shock."

The commission was concerned that the planned acquisition would impede free market competition as DSV "the leading freight forwarder in Scandinavia, would acquire joint control over the leading provider of ro-ro shipping on several corridors in Northern Europe.
The report added DSV and JL-Fondet gave undertakings aimed at addressing the competition concerns raised by the commission, but these were rejected as insufficient.

It went on to say that the proposed deal would have created a joint venture, Vesterhavet, that would have been 55 per cent owned by JL-Fondet and 45 per cent owned by DSV, to control a 56 per cent stake in DFDS currently owned by JL-Fondet.

DFDS is said to also be in talks over the possible acquisition of Norfolkline, AP Moller-Maersk's short sea shipping unit.

(Source: News and Data Online)