By Markus Wacket
BERLIN (Reuters) -The German government has agreed in principle with Deutsche Bahn to sell the rail operator’s Schenker logistics business, government and company sources told Reuters on Thursday.
The supervisory board of state-owned Deutsche Bahn will approve the sale as soon as possible, potentially this year, the sources said.
Banking sources put the value of Schenker at between 12 and 20 billion euros ($19.97 billion), though the valuation will be influenced by the health of the global economy and impact of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis.
Both a direct sale and an initial public offering are options, the sources said, adding there was no time pressure and a sale in 2024 was also a possibility.
The transport ministry and Deutsche Bahn declined to comment.
Schenker, with 75,000 employees worldwide, accounts for more than a third of Deutsche Bahn’s revenues. In the first half of 2022, the business made an operating profit of almost 1.2 billion euros, lifting the whole company back into profit.
($1 = 1.0013 euros)
(Reporting by Markus WacketWriting by Madeline Chambers; editing by Matthias Williams and Jane Merriman)
