Deutsche Post DHL Group has announced the divestment of its route planning solution provider Greenplan, to the current management team through a management buyout (MBO).
Dr Clemens Beckmann, CEO of Greenplan, led the acquisition with Florian Merget, former head of strategy and business development at Greenplan, who is now co-owner with a 25% share and managing director. They will continue to manage and develop Greenplan’s business of cloud-based, dynamic route optimization. Greenplan’s software solution enables route optimization to save cost, time and CO2 emissions for delivery and maintenance organizations.
With the transaction Deutsche Post DHL Group is following its commitment to focus on its core business of transportation and logistics services; Deutsche Post DHL does not consider the commercial scale-up of software startups to be a core activity. The new management will now lead the global scale-up of the business and further development of the algorithm, with DHL looking forward to remaining an important long-term customer.
Merget said, “Tech company Greenplan started off as a research cooperation between DHL and the Mathematical Institute of the University of Bonn in 2016, initially being a research project to optimize transportation and route planning for the world-leading logistics company DHL. In the last years, Greenplan successfully expanded its customer base, solutions and won blue-chip external clients for its algorithm. We are confident that we can release our full potential going forward and grow into new markets. We are convinced that Greenplan has an excellent future.”
Dr Clemens Beckmann, CEO of Greenplan, said, “Greenplan, having its roots in the world’s leading logistics company DHL and the renowned Mathematical Institute of the University of Bonn, Germany, has created a superior solution to improve the efficiency and reduce the costs of the transport industry, and making a big impact in fighting climate change. Together with the team, we have the right industry knowledge, skill set and expertise needed to capture the global business opportunity. We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to drive the growth of Greenplan together as a team.”
Katja Busch, chief commercial officer at DHL, said, “The commitment by Dr Clemens Beckmann and Florian Merget to invest in and further develop the Greenplan solution, marks an important step in the successful growth story of Greenplan. With the management buyout the team will now accelerate the growth of that unique route planning solution provider. Smart route planning, based on a powerful algorithm, helps forwarders and customers with large fleets to optimize the utilization of their vehicles, to improve route planning, and ultimately reduce CO2 emissions by driving fewer kilometers.”