Alexandria Containers and Goods Valuation Multiples

McKesson is one of three leading pharmaceutical wholesalers in the US engaged in sourcing and distributing branded, generic, and specialty pharmaceutical products to pharmacies (retail chains, independent, and mail order), hospitals networks, and healthcare providers. Along with Cencora and Cardinal Health, the three account for over 90% of the US pharmaceutical wholesale industry. Outside the US market, McKesson engages in pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution in Canada. Additionally, the company supplies medical-surgical products and equipment to healthcare facilities and provides a variety of technology solutions for pharmacies.

Parker Hannifin started out in 1917 as Parker Appliance, selling pneumatic brakes. Through the acquisition of branded components, the firm has expanded into aerospace engines, agricultural and construction machinery, freight and passenger vehicles, and industrial automation equipment. Within these larger systems, Parker sells a wide array of small, critical pieces such as hydraulic, electromechanical, climate control, and filtration components. Many of its products are designed to work together, resulting in a high rate of cross-selling.

As the world's largest parcel delivery company, UPS manages a massive fleet of more than 500 planes and 100,000 vehicles, along with many hundreds of sorting facilities, to deliver an average of about 22 million packages per day to residences and businesses across the globe. UPS' domestic US package operations generate around 65% of total revenue, while international package makes up 20%. Air and ocean freight forwarding and contract logistics make up the remainder.

Canadian National's railway spans Canada from coast to coast and extends through Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico. In 2024, CN generated CAD 17 billion in revenue by hauling intermodal containers (22% of consolidated revenue), petroleum and chemicals (20%), grain and fertilizers (20%), forest products (11%), metals and minerals (12%), automotive shipments (5%), and coal (5%). Other items constitute the remaining revenue.

Deutsche Post is a company whose business is German postal and parcel-delivery group operating within DHL Group. The organisation is based in Bonn and operates with sector-specific employees, commercial relationships and delivery infrastructure. It serves households, companies, online retailers and public-sector mail users. Its products and services are used in Germany and international logistics markets through postal, parcel and freight networks. The company earns revenue through services, reflecting the way customers purchase its offering. Management coordinates product development, sales, operations and customer support for the relevant market. The business is an operating company rather than an investment vehicle, even where a financial sponsor owns shares. This profile describes the transaction-period entity and avoids conflating it with similarly named companies, subsidiaries or current parent groups. The description supplies the operating context required to interpret its role as a target, platform or acquirer in the documented transactions.

FedEx pioneered overnight delivery in 1973 and remains the world's largest express package provider. In fiscal 2025, the firm's Federal Express segment—which houses the core package delivery operations—made up 86% of total revenue, with 10% coming from FedEx Freight, its asset-based less-than-truckload shipping segment. The remainder came from other services, including FedEx Office, which provides document production/shipping, and FedEx Logistics, which provides global forwarding. FedEx acquired Dutch parcel delivery firm TNT Express in 2016, boosting its presence across Europe. TNT was previously the fourth-largest global parcel delivery provider.

Founded in 1927, W.W. Grainger originally distributed various motors via a mail-order catalogue. Over the course of the 20th century, the firm expanded into new industrial product categories and launched its first digital catalogue in 1995. Today, the company organizes itself into two segments focused on different customer bases. Its larger segment, high-touch solutions, offers a vast array of maintenance, repair, and operations, or MRO, supplies and bespoke inventory management services to larger businesses. Its smaller segment, endless assortment, operates two online platforms, Zoro and MonotaRO, that offer comprehensive catalogues of MRO supplies to smaller businesses. Grainger has operations throughout the world but primarily generates sales within the US.

Cencora is one of three leading domestic pharmaceutical wholesalers. It sources and distributes branded, generic, and specialty pharmaceutical products to pharmacies (retail chains, independent, and mail order), hospital networks, and healthcare providers. It and McKesson and Cardinal Health hold over 90% share of the US pharmaceutical wholesale industry. Cencora also provides commercialization services for manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, global specialty drug logistics (World Courier), and animal health product distribution (MWI Animal Health). Cencora expanded its international presence in 2021 by purchasing Alliance Healthcare, one of the leading drug wholesalers in Europe.

Cardinal Health is one of three leading pharmaceutical wholesalers in the US, engaged in sourcing and distributing of branded, generic, and specialty pharmaceutical products to pharmacies (retail chains, independent, and mail order), hospital networks, and healthcare providers. Cardinal, Cencora, and McKesson hold well over 90% of the US pharmaceutical wholesale industry. Cardinal Health also supplies medical-surgical products and equipment to healthcare facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Fastenal began as an industrial retailer, expanding its product portfolio from nuts and bolts to cutting tools, safety equipment, and janitorial supplies. It transitioned into a distributor by building out a dense network of branches close to its business customers. Once a customer becomes large enough, Fastenal installs vending machines and its own personnel on-site. Today, these on-site locations exceed Fastenal’s branch count and remain the firm’s main focus for expansion. Fastenal acts as a one-stop outsourcing partner for its industrial customers, offering value-added services along with a wide breadth of maintenance, repair, and operations supplies.

DSV is a Danish-listed transport and logistics company, offering transport services worldwide by road, air, and sea, with the bulk of its activities coming from airfreight and sea freight forwarding businesses. Since its founding in 1976, the company has experienced rapid growth, primarily through strategic acquisitions. Its most recent acquisition, DB Schenker, occurred in the second quarter of 2025, making DSV the largest sea freight forwarder.

Sumitomo Corp. is a general trading house, or sogo shosha, a type of conglomerate unique to Japan. Its core role is that of a trading intermediary in a variety of industrial sectors, including resource businesses such as energy and metals as well as nonresource businesses, both industrial ones like machinery and nonindustrial ones like food, media, and retail. In addition to acting as a trading intermediary (including midstream processing functions to convert inputs into final products), Sumitomo also participates in upstream production businesses and downstream distribution businesses.

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd is a port infrastructure company domiciled in India. The company owns, operates, develops, and maintains port terminals and port infrastructure in India, including operating and developing infrastructure at the Special Economic Zone in Mundra. Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone also owns and operates a private railway to transport container cargo, and provides storage, handling, and other logistics services. It has one business segment, namely developing, operating, and maintaining the ports services, ports-related Infrastructure development activities, and development of infrastructure at the contiguous Special Economic Zone at Mundra. The company generates the vast majority of its revenue domestically.

Ferguson distributes plumbing and HVAC products to North American repair, maintenance, and improvement, new construction, and civil infrastructure markets. It serves over 1 million customers and sources products from 37,000 suppliers. Ferguson engages customers through approximately 1,700 North American branches, over the phone, online, and in residential showrooms. The firm sold its UK business in 2021 and is now solely focused on the North American market.

Poste Italiane is the Italian postal and financial services group, headquartered in Rome and listed on Borsa Italiana, where it is part of the FTSE MIB index. It runs mail, parcel and contract logistics, the BancoPosta financial services division, Poste Vita and Poste Assicura in insurance, PostePay in payments and mobile telephony, and asset management through BancoPosta Fondi. Cassa Depositi e Prestiti holds 35 percent of the capital and the Ministry of Economy and Finance 29.26 percent. The group has about 120,000 employees and a network of roughly 12,700 post offices, and reported revenue of EUR 13.1 billion and net income of EUR 2.2 billion for 2025. It has acquired companies and stakes in payments, logistics, insurance, data and asset management, including LIS, Plurima, Sourcesense and Net Insurance, and in 2026 it took control of the telecoms operator TIM through a public tender and exchange offer.

Denmark-listed A.P. Moller-Maersk operates trade, shipping, logistics, and terminal assets globally. The oceans segment, the largest contributor to group revenue and earnings, has the second-largest oceangoing shipping capacity globally. Maersk has acquired several logistics firms in the past couple of years and plans to make the segment the company's growth engine. Over the past few years, Maersk has divested noncore operations, including its long-standing stakes in Danske Bank and Dansk Supermarked, as well as its oil and gas operations and ocean towing.

Rheinmetall is an international defense group supplying military vehicles, weapons and ammunition, air-defense systems, digital military solutions and naval platforms. Following the classification of power systems as discontinued operations in December 2025, all continuing-operation sales are generated by defense activities. The group reports through five segments: vehicle systems; weapons and ammunition; air defense; digital systems; and naval systems. The portfolio spans combat, support and logistics vehicles; weapons, ammunition and propellants; ground-based air and drone defense; military communications, soldier systems, aviation and simulation; and military surface vessels, maintenance and autonomous maritime systems.

COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co Ltd is an investment holding company. The company's operating segments include the Container shipping business, Terminal business, and Corporate and other operations. It generates maximum revenue from the Container shipping business segment. Its geographical segments include America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Mainland China, and Other international markets.

Sysco is the largest foodservice distributor in the US, with an 18% share of the $377 billion vertical. The firm sells and distributes over 500,000 food and nonfood products to about 730,000 customer locations, primarily serving restaurants, which represented 60% of fiscal 2025 sales. The balance of sales stems from healthcare facilities (8%), education and government clients (8%), travel and leisure customers (7%), and other smaller end markets (17%), like cafeterias. By segment, Sysco earns the bulk of its revenue from its US foodservice operations (70%), followed by its international footprint (18%), SYGMA, which focuses on quick-service logistics (10%), and other (2%). The pending Jetro Restaurant Depot deal stands to add $16 billion in sales upon close, expected in fiscal 2027.

Kuehne+Nagel is a global transportation and logistics company founded in Switzerland in 1890. Kuehne+Nagel is the second-largest sea freight forwarder globally and will hold a top-three spot in air freight. Sea freight has traditionally accounted for the largest part of the business, contributing 40% of the group's revenue in 2024. The company aims to become a more balanced, fully integrated freight forwarder, continually improving its end-to-end offering to clients.

Old Dominion Freight Line is the second-largest less-than-truckload carrier in the United States (following FedEx Freight), with roughly 260 service centers and 11,000-plus tractors. It is one of the most disciplined and efficient providers in the trucking industry, and its profitability and capital returns are well above those of its peers. Strategic initiatives focus on increasing network density through market-share gains and on maintaining industry-leading service (including ultralow cargo claims) through steadfast infrastructure investment.

International Container Terminal Services Inc is a container-handling and terminal company. The company operates, manages, develops, and acquires container terminals to handle import and export cargo shipped in containers. Besides, the firm provides storage, container stripping and stuffing, and maintenance services. The company organises itself into three geographical segments: Asia; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and Americas. The company derives the majority portion of revenue from the Asia segment, followed by the Americas and EMEA.

SF Holding was the largest logistics integrated service provider in China and Asia, and the fourth largest globally in 2025 by revenue, according to Frost & Sullivan. It is the only large integrated logistics service provider in Asia that has direct control of its operations with minimal reliance on network partners. It is also independent of any e-commerce platforms. The company is equipped with full-product service capabilities in time-definite express delivery, economic express delivery, freight, cold chain and pharmaceutical, intracity on-demand delivery, international express delivery, international freight and forwarding, and supply chain.

German-listed Hapag-Lloyd AG operates global trade, shipping, inland services, and terminal assets globally. Hapag-Lloyd liner shipping, the largest contributor to group revenue and earnings, has the fifth-largest shipping capacity globally. Hapag also provides a range of services, including e-business solutions, inland services, and terminal operations.

Based in the US, Expeditors International of Washington is a non-asset-based third-party logistics provider, mainly focused on international freight forwarding. Its offers freight consolidation and forwarding, customs brokerage, warehousing and distribution, purchase order management, vendor consolidation, and numerous other value-added logistics services. It employs sophisticated IT systems and contracts with airlines and ocean carriers to move customers' freight across the globe. The firm operates more than 200 full-service office locations worldwide, in addition to numerous satellite locations. Expeditors derives around 35% of consolidated gross revenue from airfreight, 30% from ocean freight, and 36% from customs brokerage and other services.

US Foods is a leading domestic foodservice distributor, generating $39 billion in sales in fiscal 2025 and capturing a 10% share of the fragmented industry. The firm sells and distributes more than 350,000 food and nonfood products to around 250,000 customer locations, including independent restaurants (33% of fiscal 2025 sales), chain restaurants (23%), healthcare and hospitality clients (27%), and other end markets (17%), largely consisting of education and government contracts. US Foods also operates 98 cash-and-carry locations under the Chef’Store banner. The firm’s physical network spans 76 distribution facilities and 14 broadline production centers.

Following the spinoff of its contract logistics division (GXO) in 2021 and freight brokerage operations (RXO) in 2022, XPO is moving closer to becoming a pure-play asset-based less-than-truckload carrier. We estimate LTL shipping makes up 60% of total revenue, with XPO's European truckload and LTL operations making up 40%. However, XPO's LTL segment EBITDA mix is much higher than 60%. We believe XPO intends to divest its European trucking division once it finds the right buyer.

Brambles is the world’s largest supplier of reusable wooden pallets for the fast-moving consumer goods, fresh produce, beverage, retail, and general manufacturing industries. Brambles' services primarily operate under the Chep brand. The operation spans approximately 60 countries with three geographical segments: Chep Americas, Chep Europe, Middle East, and Asia, and Chep Asia-Pacific.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services ranks among the top surface transportation companies in North America by revenue. Its primary operating segments are intermodal delivery, which uses the Class I rail carriers for the underlying line-haul movement of its owned containers (48% of sales), dedicated trucking services that provide customer-specific fleet needs (27%), for-hire truckload (6%), heavy goods final-mile delivery (7%), and asset-light truck brokerage (12%).

Shanghai International Port (Group) Co Ltd is the world's largest container port in terms of throughput volume, and a major trans-shipment hub in China. It engages in handling port containers and bulk cargo along with other container-related services in the Yangtze River Delta. The gross profit in core port operation is approximately 72% in containers, 2% in bulk cargo, and 26% in port logistics and services. The Shanghai state-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission holds approximately a 44% stake in SIPG.

Bunge Global SA is an agribusiness solutions company, connecting farmers to consumers and delivering essential food, feed and fuel to the globe. The company segments include Soybean Processing and Refining; Softseed Processing and Refining; Other Oilseeds Processing and Refining; Grain Merchandising and Milling; and Corporate and Other. It generates maximum revenue from the Soybean Processing and Refining segment, which includes integrated business principally involved in the purchase, storage, transportation, processing, distribution, refining, marketing, and sale of soybeans and soybean related products, as well as biodiesel and fertilizer production and distribution. Geographically, the company operates in United States, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Rest of the World.

FedEx Freight Holding Co Inc is a North American provider of LTL freight transportation services. It offers services designed to meet the diverse needs of LTL shippers including time-critical transportation needs leveraging advanced tracking capabilities and a comprehensive network of service centers and hubs that facilitate efficient delivery and pickup. FedEx Freight's service offerings include priority services when speed is critical and economy services when time can be traded for savings.

Performance Food Group Co , markets and distributes national and company-branded food and food-related products. The company also specializes in distributing candy, snacks, beverages, cigarettes, other tobacco products, health and beauty care products and other items to vending distributors, box retailers, theaters, convenience stores, drug stores, grocery stores, travel providers, and hospitality providers. The company has three reportable segments: Foodservice, Vistar, and Convenience.

Genuine Parts sells aftermarket automotive parts (60% of sales) and industrial products (40% of sales) in the United States and internationally. The automotive segment primarily acts as a distributor to its network of 9,800 global retail locations, of which about two-thirds are independently owned and operated. We estimate Genuine serves around 6,000 retail locations in the US operating under the Napa Auto Parts brand, with about 80% of end-market sales derived from professional customers. Its industrial segment, primarily operating under the Motion name in the United States, is a leading distributor of bearings, power transmission, and other industrial products to more than 200,000 maintenance, repair, and original equipment manufacturer customers.

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha is a Japan-based shipping and transportation company. The company operates through seven segments. The Automotive Business covers ocean-going cargo shipping and automobile logistics. Dry Bulk Cargo Business focuses on bulk cargo transport and ship chartering. Energy Business handles shipping and chartering related to energy transport. Liner & Logistics Business includes Air Transport, Liner Shipping with agency, container terminal, port, and tugboat operations, and Logistics covering warehousing, freight forwarding, and coastal freight. Other Business involves real estate leasing and sales, passenger ship services, machinery and equipment wholesale, transportation support, information processing, and petroleum product sales.

Evergreen Marine Corp (Taiwan) Ltd is mainly engaged in domestic and international marine transportation, shipping agency services, commercial port area ship repair services, and the distribution of containers. Along with its subsidiaries, it operates in the following reportable segments: Transportation Department, which derives maximum revenue, and Other Departments. Geographically, the group generates maximum revenue from Asia (excluding Taiwan), followed by Taiwan, America, Europe, and other regions.

ZTO Express is China’s largest express delivery company by parcel volume, with a volume share of 19.4% in 2024. It operates a network partner model where it provides line-haul transportation and sorting services, while its local network partners provide first-mile pickup and last-mile delivery services under the ZTO brand name. Headquartered in Shanghai, the company was founded in 2002 by Meisong Lai, who remains chair, CEO, and its major shareholder with 78% voting rights as of March 31, 2025. ZTO’s strategic shareholder is leading China e-commerce company Alibaba Group with around an 8.9% interest.

C.H. Robinson is a top-tier non-asset-based third-party logistics provider with a significant focus on domestic freight brokerage (about 60% of net revenue), which reflects mostly truck brokerage but also rail intermodal. Additionally, the firm operates a large air and ocean forwarding division (30%), which has grown organically and via tuck-in acquisitions over the years. The remainder of revenue consists of transportation management services and a legacy produce-sourcing operation.

Wesco can be traced back to the late 1800s but was officially founded in 1922, acting as the distribution arm of Westinghouse Electric. Throughout the 1900s, Wesco entered and subsequently exited the consumer electronics, transit, bottling, and nuclear plant distribution markets. It was sold to a private equity firm in 1994 and then went public in 1999, and numerous acquisitions have since been made to fill the gaps in Wesco’s geographical and product coverage. Today, the firm primarily distributes electrical, networking, security, and utility equipment used in the construction and repair of structures such as offices, data centers, power transmission lines, and manufacturing plants. Wesco has operations around the globe but generates the majority of its revenue in the United States.

Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA is engaged in food distribution business. It operates food retail business in Poland, Portugal, and Colombia. Its business areas include food distribution, Agribusiness, and Specialised retail. Its segments include Portugal Retail: comprises the business unit of JMR (Pingo Doce supermarkets); Portugal Cash & Carry: includes the business unit Recheio; Poland Retail: the business unit which operates under Biedronka banner in this country; Poland Health and Beauty: includes the Hebe banner business unit in Poland, also includes the operations of its subsidiaries in Czechia and Slovakia; Colombia Retail: the business unit which operates under Ara banner; and Others. It derives the majority of the revenue from Poland Retail business segment.

Watsco is the largest HVAC and refrigeration products distributor in North America with approximately 13% market share. The company primarily operates in the United States (90% of revenue) with significant exposure in the Sunbelt states. Watsco also has operations in Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The company's customer base comprises more than 120,000 dealers and contractors serving the replacement and new-construction HVAC/R markets for residential and light-commercial applications. As much as 20% of residential HVAC units are distributed through Watsco in any given year. Revenue is approximately 75%-80% residential HVAC and 20%-25% commercial, with relatively small exposure to more complex “applied” solutions.

Diploma PLC is a group of businesses supplying specialised technical products and services to various industries. The Group is organized into three main reportable business sectors: Controls, Seals and Life Sciences. The company offers consumables, instrumentation, and related services to the healthcare and environmental industries; seals, gaskets, filters, cylinders, components, and kits for heavy mobile machinery and industrial equipment; and specialized wiring, connectors, fasteners, and control devices for various applications. It operates in segments such as Wire & Cable (UK), Industrial Automation, Specialty Adhesives, Windy City Wire, Interconnect and Specialty Fasteners. The company operates in UK, USA, Rest of Europe, and Rest of World.

QXO Inc is the publicly traded distributor of roofing, waterproofing and complementary building products in the United States. The company aims to become the tech-enabled leader in the approximately $800 billion building products distribution industry and generate outsized value for shareholders. It is targeting nearly $50 billion in annual revenues within the next decade through accretive acquisitions and organic growth.

Bunzl is a worldwide distributor of nonfood consumables, including disposable cutlery, cleaning products, and personal protective equipment. The company's geographical segments include North America, continental Europe, the UK and Ireland, and the rest of the world, with North America generating the highest revenues. Bunzl supplies to a broad range of sectors, with the largest being food service and grocery. Its customers include firms such as Sodexo, Walmart, Domino’s Pizza, Hilton, and the UK's National Health Service.

Rexel SA is a provider of electrical products and services to residential, nonresidential, and industrial markets. The product offering includes electrical equipment such as appliances and accessories, cables and routing, lighting, security and communication, home automation, climate control, and building management systems used in the construction, renovation, and maintenance of buildings and infrastructures. Clients include small and midsize installers, large installers and facility managers, commercial companies, and industrial customers. Rexel has three operating segments; Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, out of which a majority of its revenue is derived from Europe.

Bollore SE is an infrastructure company domiciled in France. The company organizes itself into four segments: transportation and logistics, oil logistics, communication, and industry segment. The transportation and logistics segment offers freight forwarding and logistics services. The oil logistics segment distributes oil and fuel. The communication segment provides advertising, cinema, and telecommunications services. The industry segment is engaged in manufacturing polypropylene film for capacitors and packaging films. The firm generates majority of the revenue from the communications segment.

J&T Express provides express delivery in 13 countries, with a number one position in Southeast Asia and a leading position in China by parcel volume share in the first half of 2025 and a growing footprint in Latin America and the Middle East. As of Sept. 30, 2025, it had network coverage across Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Mexico, Brazil, and Egypt.

Hyundai Glovis Co Ltd is a South Korean-based logistics company. Its operating segments include Logistics, Distribution, and Shipping. Its Distribution sector covers product and merchandise sales, including CKD operations, commodity trading, and used-car business; the Logistics sector handles domestic and overseas cargo transportation services; and the Shipping sector transports cargo by sea through automobile carriers and bulk carriers. It generates the majority of its revenue from the Distribution segment.