Lauterach - 18.01.2010

Gebrüder Weiss joins forces with freight forwarder Diehl

With the acquisition of 25 per cent, the logistics service provider strengthens its position in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

On 12 January 2010, GW acquired 25 per cent of the international freight forwarding company Wilhelm Diehl in Esslingen, Germany. "Diehl is a long-standing and important European partner for us, whom we hold in high regard. With this minority participation, we are securing important market shares in the region," says CEO Wolfgang Niessner to the motivation behind the move.

Jürgen Wirsing, spokesman for the management of Diehl commented: "In addition to synergy effects in future processes and the infrastructure, this alliance with GW is first and foremost a commitment to sustainable cooperation in the long term. This move will further reinforce the positioning of Diehl in its European network”.

Long-standing cooperation
Diehl and Gebrüder Weiss have enjoyed a cooperation partnership for the past 11 years. During this time, both companies have established 17 direct transport links - 13 of which operate on a daily basis. Both companies are also members of the System Alliance Europe (SAE).

The Gebrüder Weiss Group
The Gebrüder Weiss Group with its headquarters in Lauterach (Vorarlberg) has over 4,500 employees at 137 locations worldwide. In Central and Eastern Europe, GW is represented in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania and the Ukraine. In the 2008 financial year, the logistics company achieved a turnover of 985 million euros.

Freight forwarding company Wilhelm Diehl 
The service spectrum of Diehl includes national and international FTL and LTL transports, logistics solutions as well as air and sea freight. With its headquarters in Esslingen and branches in Hohenlohe and Tuttlingen, the company links together three of the largest industrial conurbations in southern Germany with the whole of Europe. A total of 980,000 inbound and outbound consignments with a total weight of 470,000 tonnes were handled in 2008. Consignments with a total weight of 46,413 tonnes were moved; this gives Diehl a leading position in groupage transport in the wider Greater Stuttgart area.

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