Wincanton joins hunt for TDG

Wincanton joins hunt for TDG

Related Stories •   Laxey Partners makes TDG approach

British logistics service provider Wincanton has entered the fray for U.K. competitor TDG with news of a preliminary offer made last month.
   Wincanton on April 14 made an indicative cash offer at a value of 281.25 pence per ordinary share (equivalent to '2.90 per ordinary share less the dividend of '8.75 pence per share proposed on Feb.27 and payable on May 23 which shareholders are entitled to retain). That is 15 pence per share higher than the earlier indicative offer by Isle of Man-based investment group Laxey Partners Ltd.
   “Since 14 April, Wincanton has undertaken preliminary due diligence with assistance from the board of TDG, which supports its view that there is merit in continuing to explore a combination of the two businesses in terms of operational overlap and complementary sector and geographic coverage,” Wincanton said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
   “Wincanton also believes that there may be attractive opportunities to generate significant profit improvement through both cost-driven synergies and operational efficiencies and to create value through improved utilization of the combined property portfolio.”
   Laxey Partners re-confirmed its interest in TDG and 266.25 pence per share valuation. It added that it has completed its due diligence and a possible firm offer is to be announced in the near future.
   John Manners-Bell, chief analyst with U.K.-based Transport Intelligence, said the pairing of TDG and Wincanton would make sense. “In fact it is surprising that an offer has not been made earlier given the consolidation which has already occurred in the industry,” he said.
   “The resulting group would be very U.K.-centric, but given that most contracts are awarded on a national rather than European basis, this is more a strength than a weakness. This can also be seen as a defensive move, following Norbert Dentressangle's acquisition of Christian Salvesen last year.”