The agreement defining purchase terms for the
takeover was signed in Warsaw in January, although the deal was subject
to scrutiny from European antitrust bodies.
PCC Logistics has around 5800 employees and last year carried 93
million tonnes of freight, with revenues of €350 million, giving it an
8% share of the Polish railfreight market. It consists of several
regional operating companies and deals principally in coal, chemical
and aggregate bulk flows.
DB's policy of acquiring freight operators outside Germany has seen it
expand rapidly across Europe in recent years. DB initially expanded
into the Netherlands, acquiring the freight arm of Netherlands Railways
NS Cargo. It later bought Danish State Railways' (DSB) freight arm DSB
Gods and in 2004 it established a presence Italy with the purchase of
SFM (now DB Schenker Italia). In 2007 it bought British railfreight
operator EWS, which also operates in France, as well as Spanish freight
forwarder Transfesa. It also acquired a 20% stake in BLS Cargo,
Switzerland in 2007, which was increased to 40% last year.
 
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