NYK Group Bids to Purchase 100% of Yusen Logistics
NYK Group will purchase the remaining shares of its freight forwarding subsidiary Yusen Logistics in a transaction that is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.
The total value of the offer to Yusen shareholders is 25.6 billion yen or nearly $225 million.
The steamship line, which ranks No. 13 on the Transport Topics Top 50 list of the largest global freight carriers, wrote in a statement that the decision is part of a company strategy to expand beyond its traditional international shipping to asset-light services such as third-party logistics and ocean freight forwarding.
Yusen Logistics ranks No. 14 on the Transport Topics sector list of top ocean freight forwarders with operations in North America.
“Under the global operating environment, competition with the Target Co.’s competitors is expected to intensify not only with respect to business conditions, market conditions and customer trends but also with respect to securing purchasing power and cargo space,” Yusen Logistics executives wrote in a statement asking shareholders to approve the NYK proposal. “As logistics services have been prominently commodified, the Target Co. believes that improvement of the brand power ... and adoption of a differentiation strategy are required for future business development.”
In April, NYK Group launched a “Transform 2025” initiative to achieve sustainable profits within eight years and the company believes this transaction would help achieve those goals.
