DHL Route Planning Tool Greenplan Goes for Management Buyout

The Deutsche Post DHL Group has announced the sale of Greenplan GmbH to the current management team as part of a Management Buyout (MBO). The provider of route planning solutions is a subsidiary of DHL. Dr. Clemens Beckmann, CEO of Greenplan, initiated the acquisition together with Florian Merget, formerly Head of Strategy and Business Development at Greenplan and now co-owner with a 25 percent stake and Managing Director of Greenplan GmbH.

(Bonn) Together, Dr. Clemens Beckmann and Florian Merget will continue to run and strategically develop the business of Greenplan – a cloud-based, dynamic route optimization solution. Greenplan offers attractive solutions to national and international logistics companies to expand their businesses in an environmentally friendly manner while simultaneously improving customer satisfaction.

“The decision by Dr. Clemens Beckmann and Florian Merget to invest in and further develop the Greenplan solution is an important milestone in the success story of Greenplan. Thanks to the Management Buyout, the team can now accelerate the growth of this unique route planning system,” says Katja Busch, Chief Commercial Officer at DHL. “The intelligent route planning is based on a powerful algorithm and supports carriers and customers with large vehicle fleets in optimizing their vehicle utilization, improving route planning, and ultimately reducing CO₂ emissions by driving fewer kilometers.”

“The roots of Greenplan lie in the world-leading logistics company DHL and the esteemed Mathematical Institute of the University of Bonn. The company has developed a top-notch solution that enables efficiency gains and cost reductions in the transport industry and significantly contributes to combating climate change,” says Dr. Clemens Beckmann, CEO of Greenplan. “Together with our team, we possess the necessary industry knowledge, skills, and experience to seize global business opportunities. We are very excited that we can now further expand the growth of Greenplan as a team.”

Focus on Core Business

“The technology company Greenplan began in 2016 as a research partnership between DHL and the Mathematical Institute of the University of Bonn. Initially as a research project to optimize transport and route planning for DHL,” says Florian Merget. “In recent years, Greenplan has successfully expanded its customer base and solutions, winning external blue-chip clients for its algorithm. We are confident that we can fully leverage our potential and grow into new markets in the future, and we are convinced that Greenplan has an excellent future ahead.”

With this transaction, Deutsche Post DHL Group follows its goal of focusing on its core business of transport and logistics services. The further development of software startups is not seen by the group as its core business. The new management will now steer the global expansion of Greenplan and further develop the algorithm. DHL will also continue to be an important customer of Greenplan.

Photo © DHL / Image Caption: (l. to r.) Florian Merget and Dr. Clemens Beckmann