Americans gatecrash Wincanton takeover

THE Americans have gatecrashed the takeover of Britain’s last independent haulier with a bumper £762m bid.

Connecticut warehousing group GXO tabled an offer for Wincanton worth 605p a share – setting the scene for another London-listed firm to fall into foreign hands.

That was higher than two earlier offers from French shipping firm CMA CGM through its Ceva Logistics arm.

Wincanton, whose 7,400 blue and white liveried trucks are a common sight on Britain’s motorways, last month backed an offer worth 450p a share from Ceva.

This week, the French raised that to 480p a share, or £605m, after it emerged GXO was interested in making an offer. But the GXO bid is 125p a share, or £157m higher, and shares in Wincanton soared 22.6pc, or 115p, to a record 624p.

‘A superior offer for a world-class business’

The stock has doubled in value since the bidding war broke out, as it looks like another historic UK company on the verge of swapping the London stock market for foreign ownership.

GXO bought rival UK logistics company Clipper in 2022 while CMA CGM is controlled by the family of billionaire Rodolphe Saade.

Wincanton is named after the Somerset town where it started delivering milk in 1925, and now stores and delivers goods for Waitrose. With more than 20,000 staff, it works in sectors alongside food, including manufacturing, fuel and defence.

Hailing Wincanton as ‘a world class business’, GXO chief executive Malcom Wilson said: ‘Our superior offer reflects our conviction in the value of this business and the opportunities the combined company will realise.’