Siemens Kicks Off Sale of Postal Logistics Business

(Bloomberg) -- Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company, has kicked off a sale of its postal logistics unit, according to people familiar with the matter.

Munich-based Siemens has sent out preliminary information to potential suitors, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential matters. It is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to gauge interest in the unit, which makes equipment to sort letters and parcels, the people said.

The business generates more than 50 million euros ($56 million) of annual operating profit, two of the people said. For now, Siemens is keeping the part of its logistics division that makes machinery for baggage handling at airports, which have been hit by the slump in travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the people. 

Shares of Siemens have risen 26% this year, giving the company a market value of about 126 billion euros. Deliberations are ongoing, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction, the people said. 

Representative for Siemens and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. 

Siemens is pursuing the sale at a time when companies are increasing logistics spending to cope with the sudden surge in online shopping during the pandemic. It came close to selling control of the business in 2014 to a consortium led by U.S. investor Wilbur Ross, Bloomberg News has reported. Siemens later backed out of the plan and decided to revamp the struggling unit on its own.

The industrial-manufacturing giant has been divesting non-core businesses to become a more manageable entity. Siemens agreed last year to sell its mechanical-drive unit Flender and listed Siemens Energy AG, whose technology is behind roughly one-sixth of the world’s electricity. 

Like Flender, Siemens Logistics is listed among the group’s “portfolio companies,” which are units that operate independently and thus are seen as prime divestment candidates. 

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