News broke overnight that XPO Logistics and Norbert Dentressangle have entered into an agreement for XPO Logistics to acquire a majority interest in Norbert Dentressangle and launch a tender offer for the remaining shares in a deal with a total value of €3.24bn. Reflecting on the acquisition Professor John Manners-Bell, Transport Intelligence’s CEO, said: “Our prediction that there would be a number of transformational deals in 2015 has proved right. The acquisition of Norbert Dentressangle by smaller US company XPO catapults it into the ‘Big League’ of global logistics providers. In much the same way as the FedEx-TNT deal, it is a sign of confidence in the European economy, especially the UK where Norbert Dentressangle is so strong.”  “The strength of the dollar no doubt helped the deal, but we suspect that it would have happened anyway. XPO has been behind a wave of acquisition activity in the US and there were fears it was running out of steam. However it has clearly turned its attention internationally in order to meet its ambitious growth targets. However Norbert Dentressangle was not the finished article – it has been growing its freight forwarding business and is weak in Asia – so we can expect its new owners to continue with in-fill acquisitions to address these whitespots,” Manners-Bell concluded. XPO’s acquisition of Norbert Dentressangle, one of the providers featured in Global Contract Logistics 2015, demonstrates the value such a company holds within the market. With its contract logistics business, strong European road network, established e-commerce solutions and growing freight forwarding operations across Asia Pacific and the Americas as well as in Europe, Norbert Dentressangle makes for an interesting acquisition target.  Global Contract Logistics 2015 contains industry-leading research into development and innovation within the global contract logistics market. The report, due to be published later today (29/04/2015) includes detailed profiles of the leading contract logistics providers including Norbert Dentressangle and its direct competitors.