Rhenus Logistics acquires Setlog: all the advisors

Rhenus, a logistics giant, is expanding its portfolio with the acquisition of Setlog, a software provider. The central product of the Bochum-based company is a cloud-based software tool for supply chain management and corporate social responsibility. Setlog will continue to operate as an independent brand under the umbrella of Rhenus.

The customers of Setlog, founded in 2001 by Guido Brackelsberg, Ralf Düster, and Jakob Gielen, primarily come from the consumer goods as well as textile and apparel sectors. For instance, the fashion house of the late designer Karl Lagerfeld relies on Setlog’s software Osca, aiming for enhanced supply chain transparency in digital business.

Rhenus and Setlog have a history of collaboration through the non-profit foundation Open Logistics Foundation, established in 2021 by industry giants Dachser, DB Schenker, Duisport, Rhenus, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML. The initiative aims to advance digitization in logistics and supply chain management based on open source principles, promoting standardization in logistic processes.

The sale of shares involved founders, management of Setlog Holding AG, institutional capital providers, and employees of the company. The team is now integrated under the umbrella of a corporation boasting a reported annual revenue of 8.6 billion euros and 39,000 employees across 1,120 locations.

The advisors

Rhenus was advised by Kümmerlein, with Joachim Gores (pictured, left) and Phil Podann leading the corporate/M&A efforts, along with Patrick Libuda handling employment law. Setlog received counsel from Austmann & Partner, led by Thomas Austmann (pictured, right) and Norman Kulpa in corporate/M&A, and Stefan Lohmann in tax law.