Marching forward

摘要

The past few years has seen many mergers and acquisitions among international forwarding agents, with everybody fighting for critical mass in a time of declining profit growth. The forwarder-controlled Italian market has been as bloody as most, but, as demonstrated by the Pacorini Group, there is another way to become an established international logistics player. The last few years have seen many changes among Italy's major forwarding agents. With many people wondering what the future holds for regional logistics specialists, the Italian market arguably provides a useful insight into what could lie ahead for others. As in similar European countries, the market has not escaped the hungry clutches of aspiring national railway and postal organisations. Since 1999, its largest local forwarding agent, Saima Avandero, has been controlled by Belgium's ABX Logistics, which is in turn owned by its financially stressed national railway organisation (SNCB). Another powerful player, Zust Ambrosetti, was acquired by France's Geodis in 2001, of which 45% is owned by the investment arm of the equally stressed French national railway company SNCF. Deutsche Post's DHL/ Danzas has also become a major player in Italy, as has Deutsche Bahn's Stinnes/ Schenker.