M&A radar Archives - The Loadstar Making sense of the supply chain Tue, 05 Nov 2024 22:24:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 31889032 Forward Air – unfixable? https://theloadstar.com/forward-air-unfixable/ https://theloadstar.com/forward-air-unfixable/#respond Tue, 05 Nov 2024 13:17:27 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=284252 The last time I looked at the Forward Air (FWRD) story in mid-October, waiting for Q3 24 numbers to be released, I was so focused on possible divestments – as previously promised* – by year-end, that I wrongly stated the company wasn’t guiding the market for Ebitda this year.
(*Conf call in May – when the new CEO had just started – then-FWRD CFO Rebecca Garbrick said – emphasis in bold ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/forward-air-unfixable/feed/ 0 284252 Aesop’s grape-hungry fox has a lesson for DHL’s dealmakers https://theloadstar.com/aesops-grape-hungry-fox-has-a-lesson-for-dhls-dealmakers/ https://theloadstar.com/aesops-grape-hungry-fox-has-a-lesson-for-dhls-dealmakers/#respond Tue, 05 Nov 2024 12:32:10 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=284264 If you have followed our DeskOne live coverage of the conference call that followed the Q3 24 release of DHL Group’s results today, you may well be aware that headline group numbers were, as expected, broadly in line with preliminary figures released last week.
A couple of substantial add-ons…
… however follow, for your perusal: air freight performance in DHL Global Forwarding (GF) was disappointing in terms of gross profit (GP) per unit, ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/aesops-grape-hungry-fox-has-a-lesson-for-dhls-dealmakers/feed/ 0 284264 ATSG soars as takeover is confirmed https://theloadstar.com/atsg-soars-on-takeover-talk/ https://theloadstar.com/atsg-soars-on-takeover-talk/#respond Mon, 04 Nov 2024 11:31:09 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=284092 The risk of writing what follows is that it will be out of date as soon as it’s published.
However, following reports that ATSG could be taken over by a New-York based investment firm, what follows is worth the pain of a… quick recap.
(PS: The deal was confirmed after this note was published; all main terms confirmed, the full release is here.)
If…
News agency Reuters is accurate – it so often is ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/atsg-soars-on-takeover-talk/feed/ 0 284092 Nickels and dimes: Wilson Sons 10% down on MSC buy. Why? https://theloadstar.com/nickels-and-dimes-wilson-sons-10-down-on-msc-buy-why/ https://theloadstar.com/nickels-and-dimes-wilson-sons-10-down-on-msc-buy-why/#respond Tue, 22 Oct 2024 11:38:58 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=283205 A couple of things caught the attention of our marketplace in the immediate aftermath of the announcement that the world’s dominant container line, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), is set to take majority control* of Brazil’s Wilson Sons (WS) in a deal initially worth almost $770m, that will ultimately value the target at $1.43bn, on a fully diluted basis.
(*Via a 56.47% stake; putting the target’s market cap $50m lower at $1.38bn ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/nickels-and-dimes-wilson-sons-10-down-on-msc-buy-why/feed/ 0 283205 MSC takes over Brazil’s Wilson Sons in $767m deal https://theloadstar.com/msc-takes-over-brazils-wilson-sons-in-767m-deal/ https://theloadstar.com/msc-takes-over-brazils-wilson-sons-in-767m-deal/#respond Mon, 21 Oct 2024 07:31:03 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=283061 It didn’t come unexpected, did it?
After takeover talk that started in mid-2023, with Wilson Sons stock trading at BRL10.5 on 9 June last year, the Brazilian conglomerate, now worth $1.38bn in market cap, has finally been taken over by container shipping leader Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which was originally rumoured to be the likely buyer well over a year ago. 
Implied premium to the target’s unaffected share price, on that basis: ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/msc-takes-over-brazils-wilson-sons-in-767m-deal/feed/ 0 283061 Analysis: GXO Logistics at takeover – value trap? https://theloadstar.com/analysis-gxo-logistics-at-takeover-value-trap/ https://theloadstar.com/analysis-gxo-logistics-at-takeover-value-trap/#respond Fri, 18 Oct 2024 10:20:08 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=282983 $7.5bn-market-cap GXO Logistics is indeed on everybody’s lips: both trade and finance sources are eager to speculate about it, sharing views and insight, preaching different scenarios about its future under new ownership, if and when that turns out to be the outcome.
Having preliminarily looked at this event-driven situation a week ago – here: ‘Scent of box line interest‘ – in the wake of Bloomberg coverage suggesting the group “is exploring ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/analysis-gxo-logistics-at-takeover-value-trap/feed/ 0 282983 Forward Air – does it take a Ceva to know a Ceva? https://theloadstar.com/forward-air-does-it-take-a-ceva-to-know-a-ceva/ https://theloadstar.com/forward-air-does-it-take-a-ceva-to-know-a-ceva/#respond Tue, 15 Oct 2024 11:33:39 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=282665 The earnings season, starting with JB Hunt after the US stock market close today, will soon reveal the true financial health of a sick patient in freight management and supply chain: Forward Air.
Where, incidentally, the ex-Ceva crew is slowly growing just as the noise surrounding a change of ownership intensifies.
Divestment 
Forward Air’s Q3 24 numbers – expected to be released towards the end of the month – should be accompanied by ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/forward-air-does-it-take-a-ceva-to-know-a-ceva/feed/ 0 282665 GXO Logistics takeover talk – scent of box line interest https://theloadstar.com/gxo-logistics-takeover-talk-scent-of-box-line-interest/ https://theloadstar.com/gxo-logistics-takeover-talk-scent-of-box-line-interest/#respond Fri, 11 Oct 2024 11:25:51 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=282460 The shares of GXO Logistics shot up yesterday on the stock market as reports did the rounds that a sale of the world’s largest, listed, pure-play contract-logistics (CL) firm could be on the cards.
That wasn’t part of our recent M&A landscape coverage that focused on deal-making in forwarding, when we wrote ‘Nothing chunky to buy, lots to break up‘. But we wondered earlier this year what the future may hold ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/gxo-logistics-takeover-talk-scent-of-box-line-interest/feed/ 0 282460 Keep on trucking with DSV Schenker? Let’s hope so… https://theloadstar.com/keep-on-trucking-with-dsv-schenker-lets-hope-so/ https://theloadstar.com/keep-on-trucking-with-dsv-schenker-lets-hope-so/#respond Thu, 10 Oct 2024 12:12:45 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=282342 While DSV CEO Jens Lund today, following another Dkr1,563.5-52-week high on the stock market a day earlier…
… shared on LinkedIn the latest… “pleasure” he felt “welcoming” Schenker CEO Jochen Thewes “to our headquarters in Hedehusene Denmark” recently…  “for a positive discussion about the future”…
… with focus*… “on how we can best leverage the strengths of our people, networks, and capabilities to maximise benefits for our customers and employees”…
(*I figured the ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/keep-on-trucking-with-dsv-schenker-lets-hope-so/feed/ 0 282342 Mr Market votes on ‘better vs bigger’ in forwarding https://theloadstar.com/mr-market-votes-on-better-vs-bigger-in-forwarding/ https://theloadstar.com/mr-market-votes-on-better-vs-bigger-in-forwarding/#respond Thu, 03 Oct 2024 11:02:56 +0000 https://theloadstar.com/?p=281831 It doesn’t matter what executives say when Mr Market is the ultimate judge of corporate strategy, capital allocation and value.
So…
Yesterday, 24 hours after the CEO of Kuehne + Nagel* remarked that growth is about “becoming better, not necessarily bigger”, it was the turn of the DSV chief to cheer at the vote of confidence that Deutsche Bahn’s supervisory board gave the forwarder he leads.
(*Which will likely be dethroned at the ...

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]]> https://theloadstar.com/mr-market-votes-on-better-vs-bigger-in-forwarding/feed/ 0 281831