Clipper confirms £947m takeover offer by GXO logistics
Clipper Logistics has confirmed it is being courted with a takeover offer by US suitor GXO logistics.
Clipper, which handles orders for major retailers including Asda, Asos and John Lewis, today confirmed rumours that it has received an offer for 920p per share which values the company at approximately £947m.
If the takeover goes ahead the logistics firm, which is being advised by broker Numis, may no longer be listed on the stock exchange.
The board of Clipper has told its New York-listed suitor that it will recommend the takeover to its shareholders if a firm offer is received. The prospective offer will see logistics giant GXO stump up 690p in cash and 230p worth of new company stocks to acquire each Clipper share.
The deal puts a premium of 49 per cent on the closing price of Clipper shares the day before the offer was first made in late January. Clipper’s board said the takeover would combine the company’s “highly complementary service offerings,” and increase its international presence.
Clipper first floated on the London Stock Exchange at 100p a share in 2014. The company has experienced booming growth during the pandemic, with shares climbing over 420 per cent since the commencement of lockdown in March 2020.
Group revenue climbed by almost a third in the latest financial year to £629m while underlying profit after tax climbed 61 per cent to £21.7m. Shares closed at 777p on Friday, giving the company a value of £800m.
Clipper’s founder Steve Parkin, who has given the Conservative party some £725,000, sparked controversy during the pandemic when the company received a £1.3m PPE distribution contract.
GXO was a spin-off from XPO Logistics in August 2021 and is now separately listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of $9.3bn.
Read more: Clipper Logistics revenue up thanks to lockdown shopping returns