The succession plan was similar to the SAP's 2007 CEO transition plan from Henning Kagermann to Léo Apotheker, which received praise in the media. In October 2007, the board of KN appointed Reinhard Lange as the successor to CEO Klaus Herms, effective June 2009 to ensure a smooth handover. KN and SembCorp chose to follow different strategic paths in 2004, and ended their strategic partnership. a warehouse-based logistics service provider based in Hamden, Connecticut, for US$300 million. In the early 2000s, KN got a foothold in the Asia Pacific contract logistics market, when it forged a strategic alliance with Singapore-based SembCorp Logistics. In July 1999, Kühne handed over the post of CEO to Klaus Herms, and continued as the executive chairman and president of the board. In the mid 1990s, strategic focus given to expand the lucrative logistics-related contracts / operations paid off - one being with DuPont in which KN would operate the chemical giant's leveraged distribution activities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The same year, KN established a Russian subsidiary and pushed ahead into Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It was listed on the Zurich and Frankfurt exchanges, which provided a platform for further exchange-based acquisitions. In 1992, it bought back Lonrho plc's 50% stake in the company and went public in May 1994.
After the reunification, KN integrated its network in the former German Democratic Republic, and consolidated its operations. The 1990 German reunification was an important event for many German companies, including KN and provided them the necessary impetus to expand further. (UK), Transportes Tres (Spain), and other acquisitions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.įurther expansion: 1990s - present KN further expanded with its acquisition of freight companies: Domenichelli SpA (Italy), Van Vliet BV ( Netherlands), Hollis Transport Group Ltd. Following the purchase, Klaus-Michael Kühne and Lonrho's head, Roland "Tiny" Rowland acted as joint chief executives of the combined organisation. In 1981, Alfred Kühne died and in July the same year, due to the losses sustained by the Kühne family in attempting to expand its shipping fleet, a 50% stake in KN was sold to the British conglomerate Lonrho Plc for 90 million DM. In 1966, at the age of 30, he joined the management team as executive chairman and spearheaded KN's future expansion, particularly its European and the Far Eastern operations. In the mid-1960s, a third-generation member of the Kühne family, Klaus-Michael Kühne joined his father Alfred Kühne as a junior partner, having completed an apprenticeship in banking. In 1975, the company adopted a holding company structure, with the formation of Kuehne + Nagel International AG based in Schindellegi, Switzerland, as the ultimate holding company. In 1963, KN took a controlling stake in Athens based Proodos S.A, and also expanded into Italy. In the early 1950s, Alfred Kühne initiated the company's international expansion and KN expanded its operations into Canada, with the opening of branch offices in Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. Transition to a Swiss holding co., and expansion: 1950s - 1990s On the 1st of May 1933 Alfred and Werner Kühne joined the Nazi Party, and under the brothers' management the firm played a prominent role in the transport of property seized from Jews in occupied territories. Adolf Maass (1875 - probably early in 1945 in Auschwitz concentration camp), who was Jewish, a partner, and one of the firm's shareholder with a 45% stake, was forced out in April 1933. Upon Kühne's death in 1932, his sons - Alfred and Werner - became partners in the firm. The First World War greatly affected its businesses.
The legacy of Nagel still lives on, in the company's name - Kuehne + Nagel (KN). In 1907, the co-founder Friedrich Nagel died, and August Kühne took over his shares in the company. Later in 1902, it expanded its operations to the German seaport city of Hamburg.
It initially used to concentrate on cotton and consolidated freight. The origins of Kuehne + Nagel was in 1890, when August Kühne and Friedrich Nagel founded a forwarding commission agency in Bremen, Germany.
History Early years and evolution: 1890 - 1950s