The boards of directors of contract logistics services provider GXO Logistics and London-based Clipper Logistics, a provider of omni-channel retail logistics services, announced that they have come to terms on a recommended cash and share acquisition, in which Clipper will be acquired by GXO.
Under the terms of the acquisition, GXO said that Clipper shareholders will receive 690 pence in cash ($9.3) for each Clipper share and 0.0359 new GXO shares.
GXO CEO Malcolm Wilson stated that together, GXO and Clipper have a one-of-a kind growth opportunity, building on their shared commitment to a top-quality customer experience, innovation, and industry leading expertise.
Wilson also commented: “We’ll strengthen our returns and repairs capabilities, expand our ecommerce customer base, and bolster our presence in key growth areas, including Germany, Poland and life sciences, and accelerate the expansion of GXO Direct to Europe”.
GXO cited various reasons for the strategic rationale to acquire Clipper, including:
GXO Chief Investment Officer Mark Manduca also recently told Logistics Manager that 2022 M&A moves are viewed as a possibility in order to fill certain service niches or needs maybe expand into certain geographies.
Manduca stated: “This business deserves acquisitions, and this business is sitting in a highly fragmented market, where the top five customers control less than 25.0% of the market share. We’ve got the balance sheet and the heritage to do deals and that’s definitely part of our wheelhouse. I would say it is somewhere in the region of a low single-digit number of bolt on deals per year, maybe a mid-sized deal. We are going to be very return on invested capital-focused and what shareholders want in terms of a deal.”
Source: GXO, Logistics Management
