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Secret suitor woos Christian Salvesen
Page 6
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• by Sally Nash Transport analysts have downplayed last week's appearance of a mystery new suitor for Christian Salvesen following a rash of speculation that a serious bid for the company was imminent.
The move follows Salvesen's reluctant admittance that the company had received an "unsolicited preliminary expression of interest". With chief executive Edward Roderick out of the country, the company's investor division remained tight-lipped about the announcement, sparked by a significant jump in share price by 17.5p to 75p.
But market analysts remained "downbeat" about the move, claiming that the approach made by the financial buyer had been very tentative and was unlikely to succeed. According to London broker Arbuthnot Securities, "if it was a financial buyer it was probably looking for something on the cheap'.
The broker believes that the Salvesen family, which controls about 35% of the company, would not support a deal at the current share price.
Speculation about the suitor's identity also centred on the two companies that have previously expressed an interest in the group—Hays made an unsuccessful offer of £1.2bn in 1997 and later Swedish investor Custos said it wanted to bid for the whole company. Hays is currently trying to sell its logistics business and so is unlikely to be interested in Salvesen. Custos is also known to be divesting itself of businesses.
The company has just sold its German industrial logistics division to the operation's managing director Torben Sigenstrom for a nominal sum.
After a string of profit warnings over the last 18 months, the source of the next one is likely to be France, suggest analysts.
A Salvesen driver says he thinks it is just a matter of time before somebody buys the company We think there is somebody waiting in the wings—either a large logistics company or a finance firm who is just in it for the money," says the driver.