Right on track

摘要

On a corporate structural level, VTG is in a itate of transition. But on an operational level, the company appears more confident and focused than ever before. At the end of March, VTG sold its bulk and special logistics activities - the Lehnkering side of the business - to a private equity investment firm for an undisclosed amount. The sale came a few months after Hapag-Lloyd announced that it would sell off its shares in VTG-Lehnkering, as well as its other holdings outside the shipping sector, as part of its transformation process, toward becoming a publicly listed company. But the split with Lehnkering required little restructuring within VTG and is in keeping with VTG's long-term strategy. "VTG-Lehnkering used to be set up with a very strong divisional layout - the individual divisions virtually had lives of their own - so this new split into two individual companies hasn't had much market impact," explains Heiko Fischer, chairman of the executive board of VTG. "The operational part of the business is going on as if nothing had happened. The goal was to split away from Lehnkering so that VTG can focus more on its core rail activity and allocate more financial resources to the growth of its rail and tank container portfolios."