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Kuehne + Nagel buys Hong Kong forwarder Apex

Deal is the largest in history for K + N

Kuehne + Nagel is the second largest airfreight management company in the world. It has finalized a deal for the eighth largest air forwarder, Apex International. (Photo: K + N)

Kuehne + Nagel (CXE: KNIN), the second-largest third-party logistics provider in the world by gross revenue ($25.9 billion), said Monday it has agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Apex International Corp. to better tap into the burgeoning e-commerce trade in Asia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Swiss logistics giant said it was the largest one in company history.

Apex, founded in 2001, is a sizable forwarder that focuses on intra-Asia and trans-Pacific trade. It has about 1,600 employees and generates annual sales of about $2.2 billion. There are 35 Apex branches, including 10 in North America and two in Europe, according to its website. Last year it managed 750,000 tons of airfreight transport and 190,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized ocean freight. Apex ranked as the eleventh-largest airfreight forwarder based on volume in 2019.

Kuehne + Nagel is the second-largest ocean and airfreight forwarder in the world. 

“The combination of Apex and Kuehne + Nagel provides us with an opportunity to offer our customers a compelling proposition in the competitive Asian logistics industry, especially in e-commerce fulfilment, high-tech and e-mobility,” K+N International CEO Detlef Trefzger said in a statement.


Kuehne + Nagel said Apex will continue to operate as a separate company.

The takeover of Apex culminates several years of expansion in the Asia-Pacific region for K+N. In January 2020, Kuehne + Nagel declared it would focus on accelerating growth in Asia after consolidating its footprint in Europe and North America.

The transaction is subject to regular corporate approvals and clearance by regulators in both countries. Kuehne + Nagel said it will pay for Apex with available cash and could tap existing credit lines if necessary. Apex management will retain a minor stake of shares. 

Another major logistics deal in the region took place more than a week ago when Chinese parcel carrier S.F. Express signed a merger agreement with Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics. 


(Correction: Apex’s ranking as an airfreight forwarder in 2019 was 11th by volume. An earlier version of the story had Apex higher based on its 2020 volume compared against the 2019 list.)

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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, he was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. Eric is based in Portland, Oregon. He can be reached for comments and tips at [email protected]