Eddie Stobart is to have new owners at the wheel after Britain’s best known trucking business was sold to investors in a deal worth £280 million.
The business, which employs around 5,000 people and operates 2,300 vehicles, will be led by the founder’s youngest son William Stobart.
Stobart Group, which is retaining a 49% stake in the truck company as well as the rights to the Eddie Stobart name, said the sale will enable it to almost wipe out debt and focus on its operations in the energy, air and rail markets.
Members of the investment group behind the takeover have previous experience of the sector through their former ownership of UK logistics firm TDG. It was sold to Norbert Dentressangle in 2010.
Stobart will receive £195.6 million for the Eddie Stobart operation, as well shares worth £44.1 million in the new venture.
The Eddie Stobart business, which was the subject of a television series on Channel 5, counts Tesco among its major customers.
Stobart will use some of the proceeds to invest in waste wood and anaerobic digestion electricity generating plants through a new green energy business.
The Eddie Stobart logistics arm generated underlying earnings of £25.6 million in 2012/13 on revenues of £475.7 million.
Founder Eddie Stobart went into business as an agricultural contractor in the Lake District in the 1960s before his son Edward led the firm’s transformation into road transport and warehousing in the 1970s.
The business expanded significantly in the following two decades, opening depots across the UK and making Eddie Stobart one of the UK’s best known brands. It joined the London Stock Exchange in 2007 as part of Stobart Group.
Other parts of the business include Southend Airport, where passenger numbers are currently 1.1 million a year but have the capacity to rise to five million. The group also operates the neighbouring railway station.
Stobart chairman Iain Ferguson said the proposed deal was an important step in generating value for its shareholders.
He added: " We have found a strong partner to take Eddie Stobart Logistics to the next stage of its development, increasing the scope of the powerful Eddie Stobart brand and allowing the group to focus on its infrastructure and support services divisions.
“These proposals allow us to repay debt, make a return of capital to shareholders, stimulate the growth of our biomass business and bring the group’s businesses together in a coherent, medium-term value creation plan.”
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