XPO surges on report of Home Depot interest

NEW YORK • Freight hauler XPO Logistics Inc. jumped the most in more than a year after Recode reported that Home Depot Inc. is weighing a possible acquisition as part of a push to compete with Amazon.com Inc.

The home- improvement retail giant has held internal discussions in recent months about making a bid, according to the report, which cited an unnamed person familiar with Home Depot’s thinking. The company would like to keep XPO out of the hands of Amazon, the online retailer that is reshaping the warehouse and logistics market, Recode said.

XPO surged 14 per cent to close at US$ 90.01 in New York, giving Greenwich, Connecticut- based company a market value of US$10.8 billion. Home Depot was little changed.

A deal could turn the tables on XPO, which has said it’s hunting for acquisitions. Chief executive officer Bradley Jacobs said in July that he was reaching out to potential targets and could forge a deal for as much as US$ 8 billion. XPO had paused its deal- making after purchasing two trucking companies, Con- way Inc. and Norbert Dentressangle, for almost US$5 billion combined in 2015.

XPO’s so- called last- mile business, which provides delivery of large goods to consumers, is the most likely source of interest for Home Depot, according to analysts at Oppenheimer.