type holding company public traded as six knin industry transport logistics founded bremen germany 1890 1890 founder august k hne friedrich nagel headquarters schindellegi switzerland area served worldwide key people klaus michael k hne honorary chairman karl gernandt chairman detlef trefzger ceo markus blanka graff cfo martin kolbe cio tim scharwath evp air logistics otto schacht evp sea logistics stefan paul evp road & rail logistics lothar a. harings chro products see services and solutions revenue chf 20.2 billion 2015 1 net income chf 679 million 2015 2 number of employees 63 248 2012 website kuehne nagel.com kuehne nagel international ag or k hne nagel is a global transportation and logistics company based in schindellegi switzerland . 3 it was founded in 1890 in bremen germany by august k hne and friedrich nagel . 3 it provides sea freight and airfreight forwarding contract logistics and overland businesses with a focus on providing it based logistics solutions . clarification needed in 2010 kuehne nagel was the leading global freight forwarder accounting for nearly 10 % of the world s air and sea freight business by revenue ahead of dhl global forwarding db schenker logistics and panalpina . 4 as of 2012 it has more than 1 000 offices in over 100 countries with over 63 000 employees . 5 contents 1 history 1.1 early years and evolution 1890 1950s 1.2 transition to a swiss holding co. and expansion 1950s 1990s 1.3 further expansion 1990s present 2 organization 3 operations 4 services and solutions 5 leadership 5.1 chairman of the board 5.2 corporate governance 5.2.1 previous chief executive officers 5.2.2 current corporate governance 22 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit early years and evolution 1890 1950s edit the origins of kuehne nagel 6 was in 1890 when august k hne and friedrich nagel founded a forwarding commission agency in bremen germany . it initially used to concentrate on cotton and consolidated freight . later in 1902 it expanded its operations to the german seaport city of hamburg . 3 in 1907 the co founder friedrich nagel died and august k hne took over his shares in the company . the legacy of nagel still lives on in the company s name kuehne nagel kn . the first world war greatly affected its businesses . upon k hne s death in 1932 his sons alfred and werner became partners in the firm . adolf maass 1875 probably early in 1945 in auschwitz concentration camp who was jewish a partner and the firm s largest shareholder with a 45 % stake was forced out in april 1933 . on the 1st of may 1933 alfred and werner k hne joined the nazi party 7 and under the brothers management the firm played a prominent role in the transport of property seized from jews in occupied territories . 8 9 transition to a swiss holding co. and expansion 1950s 1990s edit in the early 1950s alfred k hne initiated the company s international expansion ; and kn expanded its operations into canada with the opening of branch offices in toronto and montreal . in 1963 kn took a controlling stake in athens based proodos s.a and also expanded into italy . 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 the mid 1960s a third generation member of the k hne family klaus michael k hne joined his father alfred k hne as a junior partner having completed an apprenticeship in banking . in 1966 at the age of 30 he joined the management team as executive chairman ; and spearheaded kn s future expansions particularly its european and the far eastern operations . in 1981 alfred k hne died ; and in july the same year due to the losses sustained by the k hne 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 . following the purchase klaus michael k hne and lonrho s head roland tiny rowland acted as joint chief executives of the combined organisation . kn further expanded with its acquisition of freight companies domenichelli spa italy van vliet bv netherlands hollis transport group ltd. uk transportes tres spain and other acquisitions in denmark norway and sweden . further expansion 1990s present edit the 1990 german reunification was an important event for many german companies including kn ; and provided them the necessary impetus to expand further . after the reunification kn integrated its network in the former german democratic republic and consolidated its operations . in 1992 it bought back lonrho plc s 50 % stake in the company ; and went public in may 1994 . it was listed on the zurich and frankfurt exchanges which provided a platform for further exchange based acquisitions . the same year kn established a russian subsidiary ; and pushed ahead into norway sweden and denmark . 10 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 . in july 1999 k hne handed over the post of ceo to klaus herms and continued as the executive chairman and president of the board . 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 2001 it acquired usco logistics inc. a warehouse based logistics service provider based in hamden connecticut for us 300 million . kn and sembcorp chose to follow different strategic paths in 2004 and ended their strategic partnership . 11 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 . the succession plan was similar to the sap s 2007 ceo transition plan from henning kagermann to l o apotheker which received praise in the media . 12 in 2012 kuehne nagel acquired the business contracts of canada s perishables international transportation pit to expand into global fresh and frozen foods network . 13 in september 2013 kuehne nagel agreed to merge its railfreight business with vtg to form vtg rail logistics which would be europe s largest private railfreight business when it starts operations in 2014 . 14 in april 2014 kuehne nagel international was fined 3.1 million for its part in a freight forwarding cartel case brought by the commerce commission . kuehne nagel was the last defendant in the seven year investigation involving six firms who referred to themselves as the gardening club and used horticultural code to discuss anti competitive practices among them . the regulator s investigation uncovered emails that referred to agreed surcharges as the new price for asparagus for the forthcoming season or the price of marrows . 15 16 17 18 organization edit the group employs approximately 66 000 people in 1000 offices in more than 100 countries and has approximately 7 million sqm of warehouse space under management . 19 it is organised in the following seven geographical divisions 3 eastern europe based in vienna austria western europe based in hamburg germany middle east and africa based in dubai united arab emirates north america based in jersey city new jersey united states central & south america based in santiago de chilemexico chile north asia pacific based in shanghai china south asia pacific based in singapore operations edit it is divided into the following operating segments 3 seafreight airfreight road & rail logistics contract logistics integrated logistics lead logistics real estate insurance brokers services and solutions edit it provides sea freight and airfreight forwarding contract logistics and overland businesses ; with a focus on providing it based logistics solutions . its freight forwarding sea air services include the necessary arrangement for the transportation of goods by road and rail . its contract logistics unit offers warehousing and distribution services . kn lead logistics solutions includes 4pl management supplier & inventory management aftermarket management and supply chain technology . kn lead logistics solutions acts as the single point of contact with full operational responsibility with focus on supply chain integration . kuehne nagel s solutions extend to the world s largest industries including aerospace automotive fast moving consumer goods high tech & consumer electronics industrial goods oil & gas retail pharma & healthcare . 20 leadership edit chairman of the board edit karl gernandt klaus michael k hne honorary chairman alisten d silva francis joseph sandanam jesthus selvaraj corporate governance edit previous chief executive officers edit klaus michael k hne ceo 1966 to 1999 klaus herms 21 ceo 1999 to 2009 reinhard lange 21 ceo 2009 to 2013 current corporate governance 22 edit dr. detlef trefzger ceo since 2013 markus blanka graff cfo since 2014 lothar harings company secretary since 2010 martin kolbe cio since 2005 otto schacht evp seafreight since 2011 tim scharwath evp airfreight since 2011 stefan paul evp road & rail john hextall president and ceo of north america region since 2010 23 see also edit k hne school of logistics and management freight forwarding references edit kuehne nagel global revenue . kn portal.com . retrieved 13 june 2013 . kuehne nagel income . kn portal.com . retrieved 13 june 2013 . a b c d e reuters finance company profile kuehne nagel . reuters . retrieved 24 july 2012 . the journal of commerce kuehne nagel ranked top forwarder in 2010 . joc.com . july 2011 . retrieved 13 june 2013 . kuehne nagel the extension of your business . industryleadersmagazine.com . 14 february 2012 . retrieved 24 july 2012 . by dhwani shah yahoo finance profile of kuehne nagel . biz.yahoo.com . retrieved 24 july 2012 . hamburg state archives signatur 371 8 ii sxxi a15 a 133 k hne nagel jubil um mit dunklen flecken ndr.de kultur geschichte chronologie . ndr.de . 2015 06 30 . retrieved 2016 07 20 . k hne nagels rolle bei der auspl nderung der juden die welt . welt.de . 1970 01 01 . retrieved 2016 07 20 . fundinguniverse.com profile of kuehne nagel international ag . fundinguniverse.com . retrieved 24 july 2012 . sembcorp logistics sells stake in kuehne & nagel . datamonitor.com . retrieved 24 july 2012 . the other transition . 390 8612 . the economist . 2009 01 03 . p. 49 . retrieved 2010 09 30 . kuehne nagel acquires canadian perishables forwarder . joc.com . retrieved 24 july 2012 . kuehne nagel and vtg agree rail logistics merger . railway gazette international . retrieved 4 october 2013 . swiss firm fined 31 million over cartel business newshub . 3news . co.nz . 2014 04 08 . retrieved 2016 07 20 . 1 dead link gardening club freight cartel participant fined 3.1 mln scoop news . scoop.co.nz . 2014 04 08 . retrieved 2016 07 20 . gardening club freight cartel participant kuehne nagel fined 3.1 m the national business review . nbr.co.nz . 2014 04 08 . retrieved 2016 07 20 . linkdein profile . linkedin . retrieved 24 july 2012 . kuehne nagel industry . kn portal.com . retrieved 13 june 2013 . a b reinhard lange to succeed klaus herms as kuehne nagel ceo . biz.yahoo.com . october 2007 . retrieved 24 july 2012 . kuehne nagel corporate governance . kn portal.com . retrieved 13 june 2013 . john hextall executive profile . bloomberg businessweek . retrieved 13 june 2013 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to kuehne nagel . kuehne nagel group website kuehne foundation website kuehne logistics university retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kuehne % 2b nagel & oldid 736232199 categories transport companies of switzerlandlogistics companiescompanies established in 1890multinational companies