French shipping giant CMA CGM to acquire UK logistics firm Wincanton for $700 million

French shipping company CMA CGM has agreed to buy British logistics firm Wincanton for about $700 million in cash that will add warehousing management and grocery to the Marseille-based group's business portfolio.

The acquisition, being made through CMA CGM’s own subsidiary freight forwarder CEVA Logistics UK Rose Ltd, values Wincanton at 450 pence-per-share, which is a 52 per cent premium to Wincanton's closing price of 297 pence on Thursday.

The offer values Wincanton's equity at 566.9 million pounds ($718.77 million) on a fully diluted basis, the companies said. Wincanton has an enterprise value of 765 million pounds, which also includes its debt.

Wincanton’s board plans to unanimously recommend the CMA CGM bid to its shareholders. The acquisition will take Wincanton out of the stock market.

For cash-rich CMA CGM, the acquisition will open up the UK supermarket sector. Wincanton has operations across 170-odd sites across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The acquisition is the latest by the shipping company, which is majority owned by the Franco-Lebanese billionaire Saade family. CMA CGM is the third largest container shipping company in the world. With 400 offices and 750 warehouses in 160 countries and a fleet of 593 vessels, the company employs 155,000 people across the world.

The bid for Wincanton follows CMA CGM’s recent $5.5 billion unfinished deal to acquire Bollore's logistics unit and its earlier buy-outs of auto logistics firm Gefco and freight forwarder CEVA logistics.

The acquisition of Wincanton will provide an attractive growth opportunity for CEVA, helping it to expand its market in the UK, to include grocery and other consumer goods.

With Wincanton as its key development and growth platform, CEVA expects to further develop is contract logistics business in the UK and Ireland.

The new entity will build on Wincanton's proven expertise in partnering with prominent grocers and retailers in the UK to diversify CEVA's customer base.

Morgan Stanley is acting as CMA CGM's financial adviser on the deal while HSBC and Deutsche Numis is advising Wincanton.