UPDATE 1-Schneider wins China logistics license http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=AIRLIN&storyid=2007-02-16T091711Z_01_SHA145182_RTRIDST_0_SCHNEIDER-CHINA-LICENSE-UPDATE-1.XML&from=business
Fri Feb 16, 2007
(Adds executive quote)
SHANGHAI, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Schneider National Inc., the United States' largest private trucking company, said on Friday it had won a license to operate as a domestic carrier and logistics service provider in China, and was considering making acquisitions to fuel growth.
Schneider, a relative latecomer to the fast-growing market, recently set up a logistics unit in the northern port city of Tianjin to provide transport and logistics services to domestic and multinational customers.
It aims to have 25 to 30 locations in China in five years' time and catch up with a local logistics market now expanding at more than 20 percent annually, Martin Winchell, managing director of Schneider Logistics China, told Reuters by telephone.
While growing its business organically, Winchell said the company might take over rivals in a highly-fragmented market crowded with thousands of mom and pop players.
But he added that Schneider would pick its acquisition targets carefully and was not in a hurry to make any deals.
"We are quite a long-term investor, we will wait until we have the right acquisition that fits our company."
Industry analysts cautioned that Schneider could face stiff competition from the likes of Deutsche Post's (DPWGn.DE: Quote, Profile , Research) freight-forwarding arm, DHL Global Forwarding, which entered the market much earlier.
While acknowledging the challenge, Winchell said he remained optimistic about the company's prospects, as the China market had enough space for both new and existing players.
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