Wincanton, the UK logistics group, is set to be acquired by US-owned global operator GXO Logistics following approval from the government for its £753.5m bid.
The approval follows of a review under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 into the offer, which snatched the Chippenham-headquartered group from under the noses of a rival bid from French-owned shipping giant CMA CGM.
Wincanton’s shareholders overwhelmingly voted for GXO’s all-cash 605p-per-share offer after the firm’s directors performed a dramatic U-turn by ditching their previous support for CMA CGM’s 480p-a-share bid.
Last month GXO, which owns Clipper Logistics in the UK, and Wincanton elected to implement the acquisition by way of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under part 26 of the Companies Act.
The Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office has now said the government would not take any further action in relation to the acquisition under the NSI Act.
While this clears one major hurdle, the deal remains subject to other conditions, including shareholder approval.
In its bid offer, GXO said acquiring Wincanton would advance its position as a “global pure-play contract logistics leader by expanding its presence in a key market, enhancing its capabilities to better serve customers and drive long-term shareholder value creation”.
Clipper Logistics, which was snapped up by GXO in 2022 for £1bn, has a base in GXO recently reported full-year earnings of $741m (£585m) on revenues of $9.8bn.
The group employs around 130,000 people across its 970 locations in 27 countries. In total it operates 200m sq ft of warehouse space.
Cash-rich CMA, which is privately controlled by the Franco-Lebanese billionaire Saade family, has been on an acquisition spree in recent years, including snapping CEVA in 2019 and freight forwarder Gefco, which also has a base in Bristol, in 2022.
In January Wincanton, which has 20,300 employees and 8,500 vehicles in more than 170 sites across the UK, warned it was facing a “challenging trading environment” as it reported a 5% year-on-year increase in revenue.
Its best-performing division continued to be eFulfilment, which has become a more important part of the business over recent years due to the home shopping boom.
Wincanton’s full portfolio of clients range from retailers such as New Look, IKEA and Sainsbury to defence and industrial customers such as EDF and BAE System.
