sennder, Europe’s leading digital freight forwarder, announced today that it has acquired Uber’s European freight business in an all-stock transaction. The two companies have joined forces to further revolutionize the digital freight industry across Europe, the US and Canada. Uber will acquire a minority stake in sennder as part of this deal, and its European freight business will continue operating under the sennder brand.
This acquisition marks sennder’s further consolidation of the trucking market and extends the group’s local presence to include Amsterdam. It is sennder’s second transaction this year, having merged with French counterpart Everoad in June, and following a recently established Joint Venture with Poste Italiane, Italy’s largest logistics operator. Uber Freight’s European General Manager, Tom Christenson, will join sennder as Chief Operating Officer and Daniel Warner, currently Head of Shipper Operations, will join as Senior Vice President Commercial. The Amsterdam based Uber Freight team will join sennder once the transaction has closed, and sennder will establish a new office in Amsterdam.
Strategic partnership
As part of this deal, sennder and Uber entered into a strategic collaboration agreement to provide enterprise shippers with a market-leading level of service, efficiency and advanced technologies for freight logistics services across the US, Canada and Europe. The agreement includes a shipper referral program in which sennder will refer shippers seeking freight brokerage or similar services in North America to Uber Freight, and vice versa.
The deal strengthens sennder’s position as the largest digital freight forwarder in Europe and enhances its service capabilities across its key markets. Uber will continue to grow and invest in its Uber Freight business across the US and Canada, while Uber Freight will collaborate with sennder as leading digital logistics providers in North America and Europe. Through this agreement, Uber Freight will offer its customers substantially extended reach in Europe.
Acceleration of growth
Since its foundation in 2015, Berlin-based sennder has raised over €120m from leading investors including Accel, Lakestar, HV Ventures, Project A and Scania and demonstrated its ability to grow quickly and effectively. Following the closing of the transaction, sennder will have offices in 7 countries, with a team of over 500 people moving 50,000 loads across Europe a month.
Focused on modernizing the European freight market, an industry now valued at nearly €400bn, the company is very optimistic about its growth outlook for the foreseeable future. Through its proprietary technology sennder connects large enterprise companies with small trucking firms. This digital solution reduces inefficiencies in the shipping process: lowering costs for shippers, increasing revenues for carriers and reducing industry emissions.
David Nothacker, CEO and Co-Founder of sennder, said: “We are immensely proud to have created the leading digital road freight forwarder in Europe, moving more than 50,000 loads every month across 31 countries. This acquisition strengthens our position as Europe’s number one digital logistics provider. We also look forward to working with Uber Freight to bring further value to both companies’ customers.”
Lior Ron, Head of Uber Freight, said: “We are proud of the incredible growth and success our Uber Freight team in Europe was able to achieve. This collaboration with sennder allows us to further extend our reach in Europe while doubling down on our Uber Freight business in North America, and to jointly push the digital freight industry forward.”