German forklift truck maker Jungheinrich (JUNG_p.DE) will grow from its existing business rather than trying to copy rival Kion’s recent $3.25 billion purchase of U.S. logistics technology firm Dematic, its chairman told a weekly magazine.
“We don’t do mega-mergers. We have ruled out billion (of dollars) acquisitions,” chairman Hans-Georg Frey said in an interview with the German language Euro am Sonntag.
Kion, supported by major shareholder Weichai Power (000333.SZ), bought Dematic last month to expand into the market for automated warehouses and supply chains that have ballooned with the growth of e-commerce.
Meanwhile, China’s Midea (000333.SZ) is set to control German robotics company Kuka after launching a 4.5 billion-euro ($5 billion) offer in May to gain cutting-edge industrial technology expertise.
Frey said that studies showed that large mergers destroyed value, adding that in any case the strategy would not work for a family business.
Recovery in markets such as Spain were making him optimistic that possible setbacks in Britain, due to Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, could be weathered.
Full-year sales and earnings guidance had not changed because of Brexit, he said.
Frey also said that supply chain automation was not a threat to future sales of trucks, because online trading would multiply the flow of goods, triggering more transport processes and demand for trucks.
(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Louise Heavens).
Source: Reuters.com