DACHSER & Fercam Italia gathers pace

DACHSER acquires majority stake in joint venture for groupage and contract logistics in Italy.

Following a competition law review and approval by the European Commission in November 2023, Fercam began the process of carving out two of its business divisions—Distribution and Logistics, with almost 1,000 employees and 43 locations in Italy—from the rest of the company to form an independent organization for groupage and contract logistics operations in Italy. The joint venture, known as DACHSER & Fercam Italia, commenced operations at the beginning of this year. After a transition period, DACHSER joined the company on March 28, 2024, and the purchase was completed.

In addition to 20 percent of the shares in the joint venture, Fercam S.p.A. fully retains the divisions Fercam Transport (national and international road and rail transports), Fercam Air & Ocean, and Fercam Special Services (Fine Art, Fairs & Events, Removals & Relocation, Archive & Documents Management), including all international subsidiaries; these units will not become part of the new joint venture.

“DACHSER & Fercam Italia completes our European network for the transport and warehousing of industrial and consumer goods,” says Burkhard Eling, CEO of DACHSER. “This acquisition strengthens our expertise in serving customers throughout Europe with uniform quality and performance standards. To this end, we will also be investing in logistics capacity, digitalization, climate action, and especially in our employees in Italy.”

“The continuation of the groupage and contract logistics business under the umbrella of the DACHSER network is the right step to secure positive development and future growth in Italy and Europe,” says Hannes Baumgartner, Managing Director of Fercam. “The trustful cooperation we have enjoyed over the past decades underpins the fact that these two family-owned companies, Fercam and DACHSER, plan for the long term and share the same values. This made carving out the new company, DACHSER & Fercam Italia, easier at all levels.”

Full integration into the DACHSER network begins

DACHSER and Fercam can look back on 20 years of a partnership in which the Italian family-owned company, based in the region of South Tyrol, distributes groupage shipments of industrial and consumer goods from DACHSER’s European network in Italy and feeds corresponding shipments from Italy into the European network. Full integration into DACHSER’s systems and processes can now begin.

“DACHSER & Fercam Italia is very well positioned in the Italian market for groupage and contract logistics, thanks to its experienced management team led by Managing Director Dr. Gianfranco Brillante, its well-trained and motivated employees, and its modern logistics facilities and systems,” explains Alexander Tonn, COO Road Logistics at DACHSER. “As part of DACHSER’s European and global logistics network, the company now enjoys completely new opportunities for growth in exports. For the employees of DACHSER & Fercam Italia, this means security and stability. Customers in Italy and throughout Europe will, in turn, benefit from consistent and standardized systems as a result of the integration.”

The majority takeover of Fercam’s groupage and contract logistics business is the third major acquisition DACHSER has made to expand its transport and logistics network in Europe, following Graveleau (France, 1999) and Azkar (Spain, 2013). DACHSER’s European Logistics business line does not have any locations of its own in Italy, so no duplicate structures arise. All employees of FERCAM’s Distribution and Logistics divisions have transferred to the DACHSER & Fercam Italia joint venture.

In the Food Logistics business line, which handles the transport and storage of chilled food, DACHSER has been represented in Italy since 2017 with three locations and around 270 employees. DACHSER Italy Food Logistics will continue to operate independently on the market under the leadership of Country Manager Roberto Specos.