KUEHNE & NAGEL, GEFCO IN EUROPEAN TRUCKING VENTURE

   The freight forwarding group Kuehne & Nagel and GEFCO, the logistics arm of French car-maker PSA Peugeot Citroen, have announced an agreement to merge their groupage (less-than-truckload) and road transport activities in Europe.
    The alliance is aimed at creating a network embracing 35 countries, with annual revenues of about 1.2 billion euros ($1.22 billion).
    Initially, GEFCO will acquire a 60-percent share in Kuehne & Nagel’s German subsidiary, KN Elan GmbH & Co. KN Elan is a joint venture of Kuehne & Nagel and DHL subsidiary Elan International GmbH.
    In a next step, GEFCO and Kuehne & Nagel will merge their respective activities in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. In other European countries, GEFCO and Kuehne & Nagel will continue to operate with their own national companies: GEFCO in France, and Kuehne & Nagel in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Austria, Greece, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Turkey.