Eddie Stobart joining Stock Market
Eddie Stobart joining Stock Market
Communiqué :
15 August 2007
Stobart Group Limited is to be created through a proposed merger of The Westbury Property Fund Limited and Eddie Stobart Group.
The new enlarged business should bring customers a truly integrated transport and logistics solution, combining road, rail and ports activities.
A combination of road, rail and ports activities are well placed to serve environmentally and cost-conscious customers.
The Westbury Property Fund Limited (‘Westbury’), the commercial property and ports company, announces a proposed merger1 with Eddie Stobart Group (‘Eddie Stobart’), one of the most recognised brands2 in the UK. The new, enlarged company, to be known as Stobart Group Limited, will have net assets of over £250m.
The merger brings together two companies which see huge commercial and environmental benefits of combining road transport and storage with rail freight and waterborne transport systems, thereby offering customers a truly integrated transport and logistics solution.
Westbury brings a port development site in Runcorn, a rail freight operating business and a rail terminal in Widnes. Westbury has a strong balance sheet, an experienced Board and an established following from some leading City investors.
Eddie Stobart has a modern, well-invested fleet of more than 1,500 trailers and 900 trucks (tractor units), each christened with its own, unique female name. The business also has circa 2.6 million square feet of storage space across a network of over 27 operating sites (including 10 customer sites) across the UK and one site in Belgium as well as its own rail operations.
Since 2004, Eddie Stobart has been run by the founder’s son, William Stobart and his school-friend and business-partner, Andrew Tinkler. Eddie Stobart will continue with the same strong management group, with Andrew Tinkler becoming Chief Executive Officer and William Stobart becoming Chief Operating Officer.
The combined group will have an established portfolio of long-term, big-brand customers, including Tesco, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Sarah Lee, employing more than 2,000 people across the UK - principally in Carlisle, Daventry, Runcorn, Widnes and Warrington. At Widnes, in the North West, the combined group plans to develop over one million square feet of additional warehousing space which could create in excess of 1,000 new jobs.
Richard Burrell, Investment Manager of The Westbury Property Fund Limited, said:
“The Board of Westbury believes very strongly that in the coming years the opportunity for forward-thinking more environmentally-sensitive logistics businesses will be considerable. I am delighted that in Eddie Stobart we have found a very talented team of people with a great record who share that view. Eddie Stobart is a first class business in its own right and together with Westbury’s developing deep sea, inland waterway, rail and storage businesses, which are considerably strengthened by the acquisition of O’Connor and the disposal of substantially all of Westbury’s property portfolio, we believe we have the makings of a compelling multi-modal logistics business which will bring valuable benefits to customers and shareholders.”
William Stobart, Managing Director of Eddie Stobart, said:
“We believe the future of industrial logistics is about the integration of all modes – linking roads with rail, ports and waterways and, in time, air freight. We believe the merger of our company with one that has a complementary strategy to ours, a strong balance sheet and an experienced Board, will enable us to invest and grow to benefit our customers, shareholders and staff.
“We believe the face of transport is changing as customers begin to look for more efficient and carbon-friendly solutions. We believe there is a huge potential for companies who can respond to this demand and offer a fully integrated transport solution. A key part of the future strategy of the new, enlarged business will be to invest in the new port at Runcorn and maximise the development opportunities at Widnes to create an inter-modal port facility with road, rail and deep sea and inland waterway access capable of handling significant cargo volumes, linked to the haulage network.”
Eddie Stobart has a large and loyal fan base. There are thousands of fans who collect memorabilia and attend events and a large number who compete in the ‘Spotters League Table’. For many, the metamorphosis of Eddie Stobart to a publicly listed company will mean that they can now invest and own a part of the company.
For further information please contact:
Tony Langham, Lansons Communications
Tel: 07979 692287 / 0207 294 3617
Email: tonyl@lansons.com
Karen Mignon, Lansons Communications
Tel: 07766 651327 / 0207 294 3685
Email: karenm@lansons.com
Louise Bathersby, Assura Fund Management
Tel: 07762 627202 / 0207 107 3830
Email: louise.bathersby@assuragroup.co.uk
For broadcast enquiries contact:
Charlie Field, Lansons Communications
Tel: 07884 001148 / 0207 294 3616
Email: charlief@lansons.com
Anna Digby-Bell, Lansons Communications
Tel: 07881 786966 / 0207 294 3686
Email: annadb@lansons.com
Notes to editors:
1 The merger is subject to shareholder approval and a circular will be sent to all shareholders ahead of the Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on 19 September 2007 at Suite 4, Albert House, South Esplanade, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 3TX. Copies of these documents will be available to view at the UKLA’s document viewing facility.
2 Eddie Stobart has been named one of the UK’s Business Superbrands by the global branding organisation, Superbrands. Eddie Stobart was first awarded Superbrand status in 2005 when it came out top in the category of ‘the brand that delivers against its promises’. Eddie Stobart has not only achieved this recognition for the second year running but it has been ranked 30th out of over 2,000 companies selected for Superbrand status in 2007.
Stats and facts:
• Lorries have on average a 40% reduced carbon footprint compared to 20/25 years ago (source: DAF Trucks Ltd, new vehicle legislation)
• 20 lorries today produce the same noise emissions as one 20 year old lorry (source: SMMT/European Legislation)
• The number of cars on the road has increased 13x since 1950 whilst lorry numbers have reduced (source: DfT)
• For every truck delivery to a supermarket, 200-400 cars leave the supermarket with those truck-delivered goods (source: DAF Trucks Ltd)
• Each week, Eddie Stobart delivers 11 million cans for Coca-Cola
• Eddie Stobart trucks do some 80 million miles in a year. This is equivalent to going to the moon and back 167 times a year.
• The first Eddie Stobart truck was called Twiggy, after the sixties model
• The Eddie Stobart daily train from Daventry to Grangemouth and back is equivalent to 28 trucks per day in volume, 19,600 road miles per day and a saving of just under 2 million litres of fuel per annum. In volume terms this is equivalent to taking Stobart’s whole fleet off the road for 2.2 weeks of the year.
About Stobart Group Limited
The enlarged group will be transformed into a multi-modal transport and logistics business giving its customers access to road, rail, deep sea and inland waterway transport systems and deep sea port, inland port and rail-connected storage facilities.
• The enlarged group will have a net asset value in excess of £250m.
• Westbury will be renamed Stobart Group Limited.
• The present owners of Eddie Stobart (Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart) will become substantial shareholders and lead the management team of Eddie Stobart Limited as CEO and COO respectively.
• As part of the deal, Westbury will dispose of substantially all of its wholly-owned property portfolio for £142m.
• O’Connor, a rail-connected freight handling business will be acquired for £23m.
About The Westbury Property Fund Limited (‘Westbury’)
Westbury was established in January 2002 as a closed-ended investment company (The Westbury Property Fund Ltd) incorporated in Guernsey. For the three year period to December 2006 Westbury achieved a total return (measured by IPD) of 26.6% per annum compared to its benchmark which returned 18% per annum. This placed Westbury first out of a peer group of 56 over the period.
In August 2006 Westbury repositioned itself as a commercial property, ports and rail business with the intention of redeploying its assets from commercial property into ports and logistics sectors. In January 2007 Westbury announced that it was considering the disposal of a portfolio of its properties.
Westbury owns Port of Weston in Runcorn – a 50 acre site with road, deep sea, inland waterway and proposed rail access. A significant, 5 year phased regeneration of the site into an inter-modal port facility is proposed which will enable freight currently transported by road to be transferred to water and rail. The proposed regeneration intends to incorporate:
• up to 400,000 sq ft of warehousing including a bulk processing capability and palletised and bonded storage facilities;
• new container handling facilities fronting the Manchester Ship Canal capable of handling 1 million tonnes of freight per annum;
• an extension to the existing West Coast main line rail siding into a new on-site rail connected warehouse facility;
• a new link road providing improved access from the local road and wider motorway network;
• improved navigable access between the dock and the Manchester Ship Canal in order to accommodate short sea and coastal, as well as deep sea, shipping vessels; and
• a bulk liquid tank farm and packing facility.
Westbury, through its subsidiary Westlink, has recently completed a strategic joint venture, VWR, with Victa Railfreight, a rail freight operator.
Westbury announced in March 2007 that it had acquired AHC, a rail terminal operator and storage, facilities handling and transport business on a 103 acre site. AHC has a long track record in logistics and train terminal operations and benefits from longstanding client relationships and secure revenue streams. There is a substantial rail head on site with four rail sidings which, once fully operational, offers the potential to boost income levels through rail freight operations.
For more information on The Westbury Property Fund visit: www.westburypropertyfund.com
About Eddie Stobart Group (‘Eddie Stobart’)
Eddie Stobart is a leader, and long established player, in the UK contract logistics market. Core of the business is domestic road transport but it has also developed integrated transport, storage, rail freight and European operations.
The Eddie Stobart business was incorporated in 1970. In 1989, Edward Stobart retired from the business, passing the business to two shareholders (his sons, William and Edward). In 2000, William left the business to join Andrew Tinkler at WA Developments Ltd. In 2004, WA Developments International Ltd acquired Eddie Stobart providing an exit for Edward. William returned as MD and Andrew became Chairman.
Transport and Storage
Eddie Stobart operates from a network of 28 transport depots (including customer sites) across the UK and into Europe utilising a fleet of over 900 vehicles. By targeting and winning complementary contracts Eddie Stobart’s planners do not have to rely solely on finding non-contracted back loads to utilise the fleet. An integrated approach to planning the fleet and strategic sourcing of contracts that fit the network helps maximise fleet utilisation, maintains consistent customer service and supports higher margin work. The efficiency of the fleet benefits from:
• national network covering the whole of the UK mainland;
• the critical mass of fleet and drivers;
• use of a growing number of owner-drivers;
• a strategic mix of customers and associated route requirements throughout the UK.
The fleets are planned from dedicated centres which ensures:
• a greater degree of integration than a multi-site planning operation;
• a better understanding and stronger relationships between planners and drivers;
• greater levels of visibility and control for key management; and
• lower overheads.
The large UK fleet is supported by a fleet of vehicles offering services across Europe and focusing on niche operations using specialist trailers including walking floor, fridge, double-deck fridge, mega and secure trailers.
The transport integrates with the storage offering of Eddie Stobart which includes approximately 300,000 square metres (2.6 million square feet) of storage space, strategically located throughout the UK together with the depot at Lokeren, Belgium. Eddie Stobart warehouses offer adaptable storage and racking solutions to a variety of customers. Services offered range from arms length landlord and tenant agreements through to running consolidated distribution centres. Each warehouse is Eddie Stobart branded, is serviced by a range of the latest equipment and operates a networked, bespoke, dedicated management system allowing tight controls over stock, conforming with traceability legislation. Customers can access their stock levels in real time via electronic communication. Products catered for include food, medical, packaging, building materials and consumer goods.
Within some of the warehouse locations Eddie Stobart offers a full “contract-out” service. These are an extensive range of solutions tailored to meet individual customer requirements. Due to the growth of outsourcing, the market for this service is growing, meaning that there are significant opportunities to generate additional revenues through focusing on the strategic marketing of this service.
Rail Services
Eddie Stobart recognises the growing demand for energy efficient transport solutions. Eddie Stobart started its rail operations in 2006 and now operates a daily round trip rail service from Daventry to Grangemouth 5 days a week.
In order to reduce carbon emissions and reduce road congestion, the EU and UK governments are encouraging greater use of rail freight over road transport. There now exists significant scope for extending this service for existing customers for introducing new services for other customers.
Branding and Merchandising
Branding and Merchandising deals with the subscribers to the members club and sells branded merchandise to the general public via the website and three shops based at Carlisle, Appleton Thorn and Daventry.
About O’Connor Group (‘O’Connor’)
O’Connor is a rail terminal operation located immediately adjacent to the AHC site at Widnes covering approximately 39 acres. O’Connor currently handles four trains per day with an annual throughput of approximately 70,000 containers. The operation is a partner in the Mersey Multi Modal Gateway Project. In addition to its railhead operations O’Connor operates approximately 73 tractor units hauling containers from the railhead to their final destination. O’Connor currently operates solely in railhead and in transportation and has no warehousing activities.
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Communiqué :
15 August 2007
Stobart Group Limited is to be created through a proposed merger of The Westbury Property Fund Limited and Eddie Stobart Group.
The new enlarged business should bring customers a truly integrated transport and logistics solution, combining road, rail and ports activities.
A combination of road, rail and ports activities are well placed to serve environmentally and cost-conscious customers.
The Westbury Property Fund Limited (‘Westbury’), the commercial property and ports company, announces a proposed merger1 with Eddie Stobart Group (‘Eddie Stobart’), one of the most recognised brands2 in the UK. The new, enlarged company, to be known as Stobart Group Limited, will have net assets of over £250m.
The merger brings together two companies which see huge commercial and environmental benefits of combining road transport and storage with rail freight and waterborne transport systems, thereby offering customers a truly integrated transport and logistics solution.
Westbury brings a port development site in Runcorn, a rail freight operating business and a rail terminal in Widnes. Westbury has a strong balance sheet, an experienced Board and an established following from some leading City investors.
Eddie Stobart has a modern, well-invested fleet of more than 1,500 trailers and 900 trucks (tractor units), each christened with its own, unique female name. The business also has circa 2.6 million square feet of storage space across a network of over 27 operating sites (including 10 customer sites) across the UK and one site in Belgium as well as its own rail operations.
Since 2004, Eddie Stobart has been run by the founder’s son, William Stobart and his school-friend and business-partner, Andrew Tinkler. Eddie Stobart will continue with the same strong management group, with Andrew Tinkler becoming Chief Executive Officer and William Stobart becoming Chief Operating Officer.
The combined group will have an established portfolio of long-term, big-brand customers, including Tesco, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Sarah Lee, employing more than 2,000 people across the UK - principally in Carlisle, Daventry, Runcorn, Widnes and Warrington. At Widnes, in the North West, the combined group plans to develop over one million square feet of additional warehousing space which could create in excess of 1,000 new jobs.
Richard Burrell, Investment Manager of The Westbury Property Fund Limited, said:
“The Board of Westbury believes very strongly that in the coming years the opportunity for forward-thinking more environmentally-sensitive logistics businesses will be considerable. I am delighted that in Eddie Stobart we have found a very talented team of people with a great record who share that view. Eddie Stobart is a first class business in its own right and together with Westbury’s developing deep sea, inland waterway, rail and storage businesses, which are considerably strengthened by the acquisition of O’Connor and the disposal of substantially all of Westbury’s property portfolio, we believe we have the makings of a compelling multi-modal logistics business which will bring valuable benefits to customers and shareholders.”
William Stobart, Managing Director of Eddie Stobart, said:
“We believe the future of industrial logistics is about the integration of all modes – linking roads with rail, ports and waterways and, in time, air freight. We believe the merger of our company with one that has a complementary strategy to ours, a strong balance sheet and an experienced Board, will enable us to invest and grow to benefit our customers, shareholders and staff.
“We believe the face of transport is changing as customers begin to look for more efficient and carbon-friendly solutions. We believe there is a huge potential for companies who can respond to this demand and offer a fully integrated transport solution. A key part of the future strategy of the new, enlarged business will be to invest in the new port at Runcorn and maximise the development opportunities at Widnes to create an inter-modal port facility with road, rail and deep sea and inland waterway access capable of handling significant cargo volumes, linked to the haulage network.”
Eddie Stobart has a large and loyal fan base. There are thousands of fans who collect memorabilia and attend events and a large number who compete in the ‘Spotters League Table’. For many, the metamorphosis of Eddie Stobart to a publicly listed company will mean that they can now invest and own a part of the company.
For further information please contact:
Tony Langham, Lansons Communications
Tel: 07979 692287 / 0207 294 3617
Email: tonyl@lansons.com
Karen Mignon, Lansons Communications
Tel: 07766 651327 / 0207 294 3685
Email: karenm@lansons.com
Louise Bathersby, Assura Fund Management
Tel: 07762 627202 / 0207 107 3830
Email: louise.bathersby@assuragroup.co.uk
For broadcast enquiries contact:
Charlie Field, Lansons Communications
Tel: 07884 001148 / 0207 294 3616
Email: charlief@lansons.com
Anna Digby-Bell, Lansons Communications
Tel: 07881 786966 / 0207 294 3686
Email: annadb@lansons.com
Notes to editors:
1 The merger is subject to shareholder approval and a circular will be sent to all shareholders ahead of the Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on 19 September 2007 at Suite 4, Albert House, South Esplanade, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 3TX. Copies of these documents will be available to view at the UKLA’s document viewing facility.
2 Eddie Stobart has been named one of the UK’s Business Superbrands by the global branding organisation, Superbrands. Eddie Stobart was first awarded Superbrand status in 2005 when it came out top in the category of ‘the brand that delivers against its promises’. Eddie Stobart has not only achieved this recognition for the second year running but it has been ranked 30th out of over 2,000 companies selected for Superbrand status in 2007.
Stats and facts:
• Lorries have on average a 40% reduced carbon footprint compared to 20/25 years ago (source: DAF Trucks Ltd, new vehicle legislation)
• 20 lorries today produce the same noise emissions as one 20 year old lorry (source: SMMT/European Legislation)
• The number of cars on the road has increased 13x since 1950 whilst lorry numbers have reduced (source: DfT)
• For every truck delivery to a supermarket, 200-400 cars leave the supermarket with those truck-delivered goods (source: DAF Trucks Ltd)
• Each week, Eddie Stobart delivers 11 million cans for Coca-Cola
• Eddie Stobart trucks do some 80 million miles in a year. This is equivalent to going to the moon and back 167 times a year.
• The first Eddie Stobart truck was called Twiggy, after the sixties model
• The Eddie Stobart daily train from Daventry to Grangemouth and back is equivalent to 28 trucks per day in volume, 19,600 road miles per day and a saving of just under 2 million litres of fuel per annum. In volume terms this is equivalent to taking Stobart’s whole fleet off the road for 2.2 weeks of the year.
About Stobart Group Limited
The enlarged group will be transformed into a multi-modal transport and logistics business giving its customers access to road, rail, deep sea and inland waterway transport systems and deep sea port, inland port and rail-connected storage facilities.
• The enlarged group will have a net asset value in excess of £250m.
• Westbury will be renamed Stobart Group Limited.
• The present owners of Eddie Stobart (Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart) will become substantial shareholders and lead the management team of Eddie Stobart Limited as CEO and COO respectively.
• As part of the deal, Westbury will dispose of substantially all of its wholly-owned property portfolio for £142m.
• O’Connor, a rail-connected freight handling business will be acquired for £23m.
About The Westbury Property Fund Limited (‘Westbury’)
Westbury was established in January 2002 as a closed-ended investment company (The Westbury Property Fund Ltd) incorporated in Guernsey. For the three year period to December 2006 Westbury achieved a total return (measured by IPD) of 26.6% per annum compared to its benchmark which returned 18% per annum. This placed Westbury first out of a peer group of 56 over the period.
In August 2006 Westbury repositioned itself as a commercial property, ports and rail business with the intention of redeploying its assets from commercial property into ports and logistics sectors. In January 2007 Westbury announced that it was considering the disposal of a portfolio of its properties.
Westbury owns Port of Weston in Runcorn – a 50 acre site with road, deep sea, inland waterway and proposed rail access. A significant, 5 year phased regeneration of the site into an inter-modal port facility is proposed which will enable freight currently transported by road to be transferred to water and rail. The proposed regeneration intends to incorporate:
• up to 400,000 sq ft of warehousing including a bulk processing capability and palletised and bonded storage facilities;
• new container handling facilities fronting the Manchester Ship Canal capable of handling 1 million tonnes of freight per annum;
• an extension to the existing West Coast main line rail siding into a new on-site rail connected warehouse facility;
• a new link road providing improved access from the local road and wider motorway network;
• improved navigable access between the dock and the Manchester Ship Canal in order to accommodate short sea and coastal, as well as deep sea, shipping vessels; and
• a bulk liquid tank farm and packing facility.
Westbury, through its subsidiary Westlink, has recently completed a strategic joint venture, VWR, with Victa Railfreight, a rail freight operator.
Westbury announced in March 2007 that it had acquired AHC, a rail terminal operator and storage, facilities handling and transport business on a 103 acre site. AHC has a long track record in logistics and train terminal operations and benefits from longstanding client relationships and secure revenue streams. There is a substantial rail head on site with four rail sidings which, once fully operational, offers the potential to boost income levels through rail freight operations.
For more information on The Westbury Property Fund visit: www.westburypropertyfund.com
About Eddie Stobart Group (‘Eddie Stobart’)
Eddie Stobart is a leader, and long established player, in the UK contract logistics market. Core of the business is domestic road transport but it has also developed integrated transport, storage, rail freight and European operations.
The Eddie Stobart business was incorporated in 1970. In 1989, Edward Stobart retired from the business, passing the business to two shareholders (his sons, William and Edward). In 2000, William left the business to join Andrew Tinkler at WA Developments Ltd. In 2004, WA Developments International Ltd acquired Eddie Stobart providing an exit for Edward. William returned as MD and Andrew became Chairman.
Transport and Storage
Eddie Stobart operates from a network of 28 transport depots (including customer sites) across the UK and into Europe utilising a fleet of over 900 vehicles. By targeting and winning complementary contracts Eddie Stobart’s planners do not have to rely solely on finding non-contracted back loads to utilise the fleet. An integrated approach to planning the fleet and strategic sourcing of contracts that fit the network helps maximise fleet utilisation, maintains consistent customer service and supports higher margin work. The efficiency of the fleet benefits from:
• national network covering the whole of the UK mainland;
• the critical mass of fleet and drivers;
• use of a growing number of owner-drivers;
• a strategic mix of customers and associated route requirements throughout the UK.
The fleets are planned from dedicated centres which ensures:
• a greater degree of integration than a multi-site planning operation;
• a better understanding and stronger relationships between planners and drivers;
• greater levels of visibility and control for key management; and
• lower overheads.
The large UK fleet is supported by a fleet of vehicles offering services across Europe and focusing on niche operations using specialist trailers including walking floor, fridge, double-deck fridge, mega and secure trailers.
The transport integrates with the storage offering of Eddie Stobart which includes approximately 300,000 square metres (2.6 million square feet) of storage space, strategically located throughout the UK together with the depot at Lokeren, Belgium. Eddie Stobart warehouses offer adaptable storage and racking solutions to a variety of customers. Services offered range from arms length landlord and tenant agreements through to running consolidated distribution centres. Each warehouse is Eddie Stobart branded, is serviced by a range of the latest equipment and operates a networked, bespoke, dedicated management system allowing tight controls over stock, conforming with traceability legislation. Customers can access their stock levels in real time via electronic communication. Products catered for include food, medical, packaging, building materials and consumer goods.
Within some of the warehouse locations Eddie Stobart offers a full “contract-out” service. These are an extensive range of solutions tailored to meet individual customer requirements. Due to the growth of outsourcing, the market for this service is growing, meaning that there are significant opportunities to generate additional revenues through focusing on the strategic marketing of this service.
Rail Services
Eddie Stobart recognises the growing demand for energy efficient transport solutions. Eddie Stobart started its rail operations in 2006 and now operates a daily round trip rail service from Daventry to Grangemouth 5 days a week.
In order to reduce carbon emissions and reduce road congestion, the EU and UK governments are encouraging greater use of rail freight over road transport. There now exists significant scope for extending this service for existing customers for introducing new services for other customers.
Branding and Merchandising
Branding and Merchandising deals with the subscribers to the members club and sells branded merchandise to the general public via the website and three shops based at Carlisle, Appleton Thorn and Daventry.
About O’Connor Group (‘O’Connor’)
O’Connor is a rail terminal operation located immediately adjacent to the AHC site at Widnes covering approximately 39 acres. O’Connor currently handles four trains per day with an annual throughput of approximately 70,000 containers. The operation is a partner in the Mersey Multi Modal Gateway Project. In addition to its railhead operations O’Connor operates approximately 73 tractor units hauling containers from the railhead to their final destination. O’Connor currently operates solely in railhead and in transportation and has no warehousing activities.
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