U.K. logistics firm at center of mystery takeover approaches

U.K. logistics firm at center of mystery takeover approaches The share price of British logistics company Christian Salvesen surged 26 percent Wednesday after it confirmed it has received takeover approaches from two unnamed parties.
   Reports have linked U.K. rival Wincanton, German logistics giant Deutsche Bahn, France’s Norbert Dentressangle and APL Logistics as potential suitors for the Northampton-based company that generated revenue of '899 million ($1.8 billion) in its last fiscal year.
   “There can be no certainty that a formal offer for the company will be forthcoming or as to the terms on which any offer might be made,” the firm said in a statement on the London Stock Exchange’s Web site.
   Tuesday’s closing price of 64.75 pence ($1.30) would set the company’s market value at about '171 million ($345 million)
   Established in 1846 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the company specializes in managing outsourced supply chain operations for manufacturing and retail customers in the industrial, consumer and food sectors. It has about 200 sites in the United Kingdom, France, Benelux, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Its major customers include Auchan, Danone, Carrefour, Ford, GM, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons and Unilever.
   In August, Salvesen sold its vegetable-processing unit CS Foods to a U.K. subsidiary of Belgium’s Pinguin NV for '17.2 million ($34.7 million) in order to focus its activities towards logistics and transport.