XPO’s acquisition of Norbert Dentressangle hits ‘unexpected roadblock’

A Paris court has granted XPO Logistics a temporary injunction against Elliott Management Corp., limiting the hedge fund from selling its shares of ND, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal.    The Paris Commercial Court granted a temporary injunction to XPO Logistics Tuesday that would prevent the hedge fund Elliott Capital Advisors LP from selling its shares in Norbert Dentressangle to any party other than XPO Logistics.
   XPO agreed in principle to purchase Norbert Dentressangle for $3.5 billion in April 2015 and it appeared the acquisition would go through with little to no resistance until Elliot Capital stepped into the picture.
   Elliot, which is headquartered in New York, owns a 7.5 percent stake in ND, which is not nearly enough to prevent the logistics roll-up from purchasing the French logistics powerhouse. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, however, Elliot is attempting to get XPO to pay a premium for its stake by preventing XPO from delisting ND shares in France, among other inconveniences.
   “XPO needs to control 95 percent of Norbert’s shares to delist the company on the Euronext Paris exchange,” Casey Deak, an analyst with Wells Fargo, told WSJ.
   Connecticut-based XPO, which has built itself into one of the largest third party logistics providers worldwide through a series of similar acquisitions, “just don’t want any loose ends or shares left on the table,” said Deak.
   Acquiring Norbert Dentressangle SA, a company nearly twice the size of XPO, gives XPO a strong foothold in European markets, where ND’s iconic red trucks have been serving logistics customers for decades. The combined company would have estimated revenues of about $8.5 billion per year, nearly two years ahead of XPO’s 2017 target of $9 billion and $5.5 billion more than XPO reported in 2014.
   The injunction will remain in place until the parties meet for another hearing on July 23.