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Eddie Stobart so
Page 6
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Property group Westbury has bought Stobart for El 38m — but what does the future hold for the new company? Louise Cole reports.
EDDIE STOBART will be launched on the London Stock Exchange in September following a 'reverse takeover' by Guernseybased property group Westbury. This positions the company for multimodal developments.
The deal involves the purchase of Stobart by Westbury for £138m while Stobart's former parent company, WA Developments, bought £142m worth of Westbury's property portfolio.
The newly formed Stobart Group also bought rail-freight operator O'Connors for £23m this purchase includes extensive tracts of land next to railways and ports.
Westbury was formerly best known for general property invest ment but in 2006 it began to focus on transport and logistics sites.
Andrew Tinkler, now chief executive officer of the Stobart Group, says: "Westbury was a really good fit to bring into the business. It fits what we want to do with developing more on rail and the waterways." The property company owned the port of Weston in Runcorn, as well as AHC, a warehousing and rail company just across the Mersey at Widnes. O'Connors is based next to AHC.
Tinkler says the plan is to develop "one million square feet" of warehousing space and create an intermodal model, taking deepsea freight from feeder ships and transferring it to road, rail and internal waterways.
When the model is perfected he hopes to make further acquisitions that will allow the group to replicate it elsewhere in the country.
William Stobart and Andrew Tinkler will continue to lead the board of the new group and will own a 28% stake in the new cornpany.Westbury's shareholders will vote on the merger on 19 August but no opposition is anticipated. The stock exchange launch is scheduled for 20 September.
Freight Transport Association external affairs director Geoff Dossettersays:"We must all recognise that the public perception enjoyed by Stobart has been a force for good for road transport.
"Its new strategy fits entirely with the new attitude we are seeing from govemment,with the emphasis on the completion of the job rather than the mode of delivery."
• See investigation, page 28.
www.roadtransport.com/cm