D.Bahn eyes deal to sell Schenker by end of year, says source

BERLIN (Reuters) -Deutsche Bahn expects at least 10 bidders for Schenker and aims to sign a contract for the sale of the German rail operator's logistics subsidiary in the second half of 2024, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

"I believe it will be in double figures," the person said of the number of bidders.

Initial offers with purchase prices must be submitted by the end of March, after which the pool of bidders will be significantly reduced, according to the source, who said, "I think there will be more than two or three."

The sale is to be formally finalised in 2025, the source added.

Industry sources have put the expected purchase price for Schenker in a range of between 12 billion euros ($13.05 billion) and 15 billion euros.

Deutsche Bahn wants to sell its logistics business to concentrate on its core railway business in Germany and to reduce its debt burden of more than 30 billion euros.

However, Schenker has been the state-owned company's most important profit driver in recent years.

Earlier on Wednesday, German logistics giant DHL pulled out of the race to buy Schenker.

($1 = 0.9198 euros)

(Reporting by Markus Wacket, Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Sabine Wollrab, Madeline Chambers)