GXO completes acquisition of Wincanton

The sale of Wincanton to US giant GXO Logistics has been completed for £762 million.

Wincanton chairman Sir Martin Read, senior director Gillian Barr, and non-executive directors Anthony Bickerstaff, Mihiri Jayaweera, Deborah Lentz and John Pattullo will all leave the board.

However, executive director James Wroath and chief financial officer Tom Hinton will remain with the company.

The deal from GXO got the green light from Wincanton after it had originally recommended an offer to shareholders from French multinational CEVA Logistics – part of the CMA CGM group – for £567m.

However, a bidding war ensued when GXO entered the fray with CEVA increasing its offer to £4.80 per share, before GXO offered £6.05 per share – 26% higher than CEVA's offer.

Wincanton announced in March that it would unanimously recommend the GXO offer to its shareholders.

GXO chief executive officer, Malcolm Wilson, said: “We are very pleased to complete this valuable acquisition for our company, which advances our position as the global pure-play logistics leader, and we look forward to welcoming Wincanton’s high-quality team to GXO.

“By combining Wincanton’s footprint and proven expertise in the UK and Ireland with our global reach and transformative technology, we can provide a wider range of services to new and existing customers across geographies – and accelerate our long-term growth trajectory.”

GXO and Wincanton will continue to be run independently until the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has completed its review.