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MOTORINDIA
l
June 2012
Mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity in transport
and logistics hit a four-quarter high in the first three
months of 2012, with the underlying drivers of trans-
actions aligning to fuel $27.9 billion of completed and
announced transactions.
The emerging trends suggest that 2012 is poised to be
a year for accelerating global M&A activity in the trans-
port and logistics sector. This activity will be driven by
four factors:
• Significant war chests built up during the economic
crisis are now ready for deployment.
• Strategic and financial investors looking to capi-
talise on emerging trends in high growth niche mar-
kets, including e-commerce, time and temperature
sensitive delivery, and secure courier requirements.
• A need for scale and consolidation in traditional
T&L segments including post, passenger transport
and shipping.
• Growing demand from infrastructure investors
for quality airport, port and road assets.
M&A activity has traditionally been a barometer of
confidence, and on this basis the prognosis is good.
The 2011 and 2010 transaction levels (measured by
value and number) exhibited a return to normality
over the crisis-hit 2009.
Although M&A levels in the second half of 2011
were impacted by sovereign risk-related financing
uncertainty, the new year has hit a higher gear. Although
short-term factors such as further fuel price shocks and
debt market jitters may influence the timing of activity,
it is felt that the imperatives for change are aligned to
drive activity in the medium term.
This report looks at the transactions landscape in
transport and logistics in 2011. It examines the driving
forces behind these trends, which can be characterised
as follows:
• Average transaction values lower than 2010 (partic-
road transportation