It’s been an eventful week at XPO Logistics – owners of the former Norbert Dentressangle business.
Firstly, it emerged that former ND chief Hervé Montjotin had left his position as chief executive of XPO’s European business less than three months into his new role – posing some awkward questions as to why three months earlier he’d described the acquisition of the French firm as a “golden opportunity” for its future.
Secondly, rather lost in a wealth of news from the company, was a two-year distribution and warehousing contract renewal in the UK with Kidde Safety – showing that the British arm of the XPO global empire was ticking along quite nicely thank you.
Thirdly XPO rocked the American road transport market by splashing out the best part of $3bn (£1.9bn) on Fortune 500 company Con-way – a less-than-truckload (LTL) specialist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Think that won’t affect the UK? Think again.
Con-way subsidiary Menlo Worldwide Logistics (a 3PL/ 4PL) has a 167,000ft² warehouse just off junction 29 of the M1 in Derbyshire.
Think that the Con-way acquisition won’t affect XPO in Europe? Think again, as well as its UK facilities it also has sites in the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic and Germany.
Combining the lot, 10% of XPO’s estimated $15bn turnover will be derived from the UK.
It is also worth noting that XPO said on acquiring Con-way that if it had bought ND last year, it would have cost it 20% more, given the strength of the $ v € this year compared to the last.
On June 8 this year it spent €3.24bn on two-thirds of ND. On 29 June it launched a simplified tender offer for the outstanding ND shares at €217.50 per share. Following the closing of that tender offer on 17 July, XPO owns an 86.25% controlling interest in ND.