BBG: German union prefers CVC as Schenker buyer to save jobs

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BLOOMBERG reports:

Verdi, Germany’s most powerful labor union, is making the unusual move of backing a private equity firm’s bid for Deutsche Bahn’s planned €14 billion ($15.5 billion) sale of its Schenker logistics arm.

After meeting with the two final suitors, Verdi estimated that 5,300 more jobs would be at risk if Deutsche Bahn were to sell the unit to Danish logistics company DSV A/S instead of a consortium around CVC Capital, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News and people familiar with the matter.

“If CVC were to take over, Schenker would continue to operate as one company. If DSV were to take over, DSV said the employees would be split between three companies,” Verdi said in the letter sent Thursday to Deutsche Bahn’s supervisory board members. The union added that the supervisory board is strongly advised to work to preserve jobs.

The union’s preference for CVC is an example of private equity’s reputational shift in Germany, where they were long derided as locusts for buying targets, cutting costs and then moving on…

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