In the logistics sector, acquisitions and integrations are occurring at an increasingly rapid pace. For companies, they are a strategic response to globalization, digitalization and margin pressure. The goal is clear: more scale, more efficient networks and stronger sector specializations. But anyone who merges or integrates companies must also align systems, processes, people and cultures.
This is precisely where HR can play a crucial role, as a partner and enabler, as is evident from the experience of Elke Pringels, HR Director at Yusen Logistics. Her keynote at the Acerta Harbor Lunch on March 10 comes straight from practice. Yusen Logistics and its Japanese parent company NYK Group have undergone various acquisition and integration processes in recent years. For example, in 2022 the three companies of Groupe Pierre, active in pharma and biotech, were acquired. There was the acquisition of Parts Express in 2024, focused on automotive. And the largest European acquisition in the group’s history took place at the end of 2025 with the acquisition of Walden Group, focused on healthcare and pharma.
Yusen Logistics is also evolving from local entities to a broader cluster structure. The new North cluster includes Benelux, Germany and Switzerland and has the same number of employees as the other clusters in Europe.
Elke Pringels draws these three clear HR lessons from the recent integrations.
- HR must be at the table from day one. Not only with harmonization and contracts, but with the organizational structure, governance and roles. The future structure and governance model are extremely important: they are the first questions that everyone, from manager to employee, asks.
- Change management is just as important as project management. On paper, acquisitions or integrations are often neatly planned. In people’s minds, this process often happens more slowly. That makes change management essential. Yusen invests heavily in change management at European level. This translates into development, training and certification programs, supplemented with e-learning courses that are accessible to all employees, from blue-collar profiles to management.
- Communication and leadership make the difference. Not communicating or communicating insufficiently creates noise, uncertainty and personal interpretations. One formal communication doesn’t work. Communication must take place transparently, timely and in a variety of ways, written and oral, individually and collectively. Leadership also plays an important role: when things get tough, leadership determines whether integration accelerates or slows down.
Hr as talent guard
Anyone who grows today through acquisitions buys scale, network and market expertise, but also people, habits and expectations. That is precisely why HR is not a support function but a guardian of talent: to keep employees on board, especially in highly specialized environments, and to build trust in the new organization.
