World at their feet

摘要

The European logistics industry continued a long-running trend towards consolidation in 2005, and this year is likely to be no different, according to consultant/analyst John Manners-Bell. Although consolidation has been a constant factor in the freight forwarding, logistics and express industries, the past five years have seen unprecedented levels of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity. The acquisition strategies of freight forwarders such as Rockwood and LEP in the late 1980s and 1990s were early (though ill-fated) attempts to build European and global platforms. These attempts unravelled partly because they lacked the resources to carry through the strategy.