KN was founded in 1890, in Bremen, Germany, by August Kühne and Friedrich Nagel. It provides sea freight and air freight forwarding, contract logistics, and overland businesses.

The sea freight segment offers services through partnerships with carriers, as well as visibility and monitoring of freight movements. The airfreight segment relates to air logistics solutions and streamlined visibility and monitoring via KN's information management system. The overland segment specializes in end-to-end, secured, and temperature-controlled solutions for overland transportation of pharmaceutical and healthcare products. The contract logistics segment refers to customer contracts for warehousing and distribution activities.

In 2010, Kuehne + Nagel was the leading global freight forwarder, accounting for nearly 15% of the world's air and sea freight business by revenue, ahead of DHL Global Forwarding, DB Schenker Logistics, and Panalpina. As of 2022, it has nearly 1,300 offices in 106 countries, with over 78,000 employees, and has approximately 12 million sqm of warehouse space under management.

(Wowtimes) Kühne + Nagel’s history and achievements

• 1890: August Kühne and Friedrich Nagel founded a forwarding commission agency in Bremen, Germany. It was initially used to concentrate on cotton and consolidated freight.
• 1902:  The company expanded its operations to the German seaport city of Hamburg.
• 1910: Adolf Maass became a partner in KN.
• 1924: a branch was opened in Lübeck to handle traffic in the Baltic sea.
• 1953: a KN subsidiary was founded in Canada, with branches in Toronto and Montreal.
• 1957: A branch was opened in Vancouver in 1957 to handle incoming goods from Japan and Hong Kong, and to reship them to eastern Canada.
• 1963: KN took a controlling stake in Athens-based Proodos S.A, and also expanded into Italy.
• 1975: the company adopted a holding company structure, with the formation of Kuehne + Nagel International AG based in Schindellegi, Switzerland, as the ultimate holding company.
• 1990: KN founded, via a joint venture contract with the former state-owned forwarder VEB Deutrans, the KN Speditions-GmbH in East Berlin.
• 1994: the company listed on the Zurich and Frankfurt exchanges. KN operated the DuPont's leveraged distribution activities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During 1994, KN posted record sales and income.
• 2000: KN entered an alliance with Singapore-based SembCorp Logistics Ltd., gaining a foothold in the Asia-Pacific region.
• 2012: Kuehne + Nagel acquired the business contracts of Canada's Perishables International Transportation (PIT) to expand into global fresh and frozen foods network.
• 2013: Kuehne + Nagel agreed to merge its rail freight business with VTG to form VTG Rail Logistics, which would be Europe's largest private rail freight business when it starts operations.
• 2021: Rugby League World Cup announced that Kuehne + Nagel would become the official Logistics Partner of the tournament, providing logistics services, including requirements for all of the 61 matches across the men’s, women’s, and wheelchair tournaments, all 32 participating teams, and the fulfillment of warehousing and storage needs.

According to Wikipedia