Schneider Logistics announced Tuesday, Aug. 31, that it has agreed to sell its freight forwarding and customs house brokerage business in the United States and China to Norbert Dentressangle, a major European transportation, logistics and freight forwarding company based in Lyon, France.
The transaction, terms of which were not announced and is expected to be final by Oct. 1, does not affect Schneider Logistics’ other international supply chain services, including transloading, warehousing, distribution, port dray services, inland logistics management, supply chain management, brokerage or domestic China transportation services.
Schneider Logistics says there will be no job losses incurred through the sale, with all Schneider freight forwarding and customs house brokerage associates in the United States and China becoming employees of Norbert Dentressangle. The sale encompasses seven locations in the United States (San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Atlanta, New York and Chicago) and two locations in China (Tianjin and Shanghai).
Norbert Dentressangle, founded in 1979, reported 2009 revenues of $3.5 billion. Today the company has 27,000 employees throughout 355 locations in 17 countries. With more than 6,900 tractors and 8,600 trailers, as well as 5.3 million square feet of warehouse space, Norbert Dentressangle has become one of the top European transportation, logistics and freight forwarding providers.
According to Chris Lofgren, Schneider chief executive officer and president, the expertise of Schneider’s freight forwarding and customs house brokerage team will enable Norbert Dentressangle to grow its existing business and leverage its European customer base to generate new business in the United States for themselves as well as Schneider’s current customers.
“As we continue to refine our Enterprise strategy, it has become clear that while freight forwarding and customs brokerage is an exciting business with significant potential, it is not part of the strategic focus on our core truckload, logistics and intermodal services,” Lofgren says. “When making strategic decisions like this, our guiding principle is that our people deserve to be aligned with a company that shares our core values and plans to invest in the people, technology and resources to grow the business. The freight forwarding and customs brokerage associates will have great opportunities for growth and success with Norbert Dentressangle.”
