Leading the way with Exel
We have taken the decisive step towards becoming the leading logistics group with the largest acquisition in our history – the purchase of the listed British company Exel plc, which was completed on December 13, 2005. The Exel group was included in the consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2005.

In 2005, Exel achieved revenue of €11.5 billion and EBIT amounting to €312 million with some 110,000 employees in 130 countries. Following this acquisition, more than 50% of our future consolidated revenue will be generated outside Germany, resulting in our business portfolio becoming more balanced.

In addition to this acquisition, we have also further strengthened our strategic positions in the other segments with targeted purchases, or streamlined them by means of disposals.

Largest private mail services provider in the Netherlands
In the MAIL Corporate Division, the following transactions are of particular interest:

• On January 14, 2005, we purchased 94.2% of the shares in the French mail services provider Koba, with the remaining shares in the group being purchased on November 15, 2005, resulting in Deutsche Post Beteiligungen Holding GmbH now holding 100% of the shares. We had already announced this acquisition during the previous year; it gives us access to the French market for value-added services in the mail business.
• Additionally, we acquired a majority interest in the Dutch company MailMerge on October 12, 2005. We increased our existing holding from 20% to 70%. Together with Selekt Mail Nederland, Interlanden, Selektvracht and DHL Global Mail, which already belong to the Group, this makes us the largest private mail services provider in the Netherlands. MailMerge provides its customers with comprehensive solutions for business mail and is the largest specialist provider of delivery services to the Dutch postal service’s P.O. boxes.

First express delivery company in Asian domestic markets
The key acquisitions and disposals in the EXPRESS Corporate Division were:

• On March 11, 2005, the acquisition of 81% of the shares in the Indian company Blue Dart became legally binding. Deutsche Post World Net is now the first international company to offer customers its own domestic and international express services in China and India.
• We had originally planned to acquire a majority interest in trans-o-flex. However, this was prohibited by the Bundeskartellamt (German Federal Antitrust Authority) and the Bundesgerichtshof (German Federal Court of Justice). We therefore sold our 24.8% interest to the financial investor Odewald & Compagnie on March 17, 2005.
• On October 12, 2005, we disposed of Fuelserv Ltd., the second largest UK operator of market-independent fuel cards and refueling sites.
• We also disposed of the LBC group in October. Based in Sweden, the LBC group is a specialist provider of logistics and transport solutions to the Scandinavian furniture industry.

DHL takes over distribution logistics for KarstadtQuelle
In the LOGISTICS Corporate Division, we made a number of complementary acquisitions both prior to and in parallel with the takeover of Exel:

• In the ocean freight business, on November 14, 2005, we acquired all the shares in the freight forwarder Multicontainer S.A., a company headquartered in Greece. The company transfer took place on January 1, 2006.
• At the end of September, we disposed of our minority interest (33%) in the French company France Handling S.A., which provides ground handling services at selected airports in France.
• In contract logistics, we acquired significant parts of KarstadtQuelle AG’s logistics operations. With economic effect from April 1, 2005, we initially took over distribution logistics for the Karstadt department stores. In addition to the assets and business of our customer, we gained around 3,600 employees. On July 1, 2005, we then assumed responsibility for distribution logistics for bulky goods and part-load services. As part of this overall framework, on June 8, 2005, we increased our equity interest in Gesellschaft für Privatkundenlogistik mbH from 10% to 100% enabling us to control the distribution of bulky goods over and above the warehouse function.