Logistics firm Kuehne + Nagel has acquired U.S.-based ReTrans, a non-asset freight brokerage provider. With 68 locations and annual revenues of more than US$500 million, ReTrans specializes in intermodal transportation, as well as full- and less-than-truckload services in the United States and Canada.
Detlef Trefzger, CEO of the Kuehne + Nagel Group, said the investment will help strengthen the company’s North American road-based supply-chain network, which will dovetail with its air- and seafreight logistics operations. The merger, if approved, will put K+N in more direct competition with major North American players, such as XPO Logistics, Coyote Logistics and C.H. Robinson.
The move continues a trend of global consolidations in the fragmented freight brokerage industry. Last month, U.S.-based XPO began its acquisition of France’s Norbert Dentressangle SA, which would make XPO the world’s second-largest freight brokerage firm by net revenue. Earlier, FedEx Corp. announced plans to purchase TNT, of the Netherlands, while DSV is reported to be considering brokerage options in the North American market.