US logistics firm GXO tops CMA CGM’s offer for Wincanton

The bidding war for UK logistics player Wincanton is heating up, with US-based warehousing firm GXO Logistics surpassing an offer made by CMA CGM’s CEVA Logistics.

The owner of Clipper Logistics has logged a bid under which shareholders would get 605 pence in cash for each Wincanton share held – up about 26% from CEVA Logistics’ offer of 480 pence per share.

Wincanton had recommended an increased and final offer French carrier made on Monday to buy the company for about $766m in cash on a fully diluted basis. However, GXO’s bid now values Wincanton at about $965m on an enterprise basis.

“The acquisition provides Wincanton shareholders with superior value to the CEVA final offer, as the acquisition price represents an increase of 125 pence per Wincanton share and, in aggregate, approximately £157m in the total offer value on a fully diluted basis, compared with the terms of the CEVA final offer,” GXO said in a statement, adding that it expects the Wincanton board will recommend the acquisition in due course.

CEVA said on Monday that it had received commitments to accept its bid from investors Aberforth Partners and The Wellcome Trust, which hold just over 16% of Wincanton’s shares, while investors owning another 19.4% have confirmed support for the deal.

Meanwhile, GXO said it has received irrevocable support from shareholders of about 34% of the issued share capital of Wincanton.

Wincanton is active in the UK and Ireland in markets ranging from food and consumer goods to fuel and defence. GXO noted that the combination would advance the company’s position as a global pure-play contract logistics leader and drive long-term shareholder value creation.