Wincanton sells off European units
U.K. logistics and supply chain services company Wincanton has sold two of its continental European business units to the German logistics corporation Rhenus AG & Co. KG fir roughly 44 million euros.
The sale involves Wincanton’s German intermodal and contract logistic activities, and its businesses in France, which provide contract logistics and transport services from 30 locations. Completion of the transaction will mark the exit of all of Wincanton’s mainland Europe activities, with the net proceeds of the sale to be used to reduce the company's debt.
'In my view the new management of Wincanton has taken the right decision to pull out of mainland Europe, and there is a strong argument to say that the move should have been made earlier,' said John Manners-Bell, chief analyst at Transport Intelligence. 'The company will now be able to focus resources on its strong U.K. operations. The sale says a lot about the hyper-competitive German and French logistics markets, which are very difficult to penetrate without the necessary scale. It will also raise the unwelcome prospect of a takeover bid for Wincanton now that it has made itself more attractive by getting rid of its underperforming business units.'