Eddie Stobart delivers £550m market float
HAULAGE firm eddie stobart is preparing to list on the stock market less than three years after splitting from its parent company.
the company, which became a household name thanks to its distinctive red and green lorries, is seeking to raise £130m by listing on London’s junior AIM market next month and said a valuation ‘in excess’ of £550m is expected.
the firm will be renamed eddie stobart Logistics ahead of the initial public offering and will use the cash raised to fund growth and pay down debt.
it comes after the firm split from its parent company stobart Group in 2014, after announcing that it planned to reposition itself as an infrastructure and support services business, eventually selling the logistics arm to dbay.
dbay, which acquired a 51pc stake in the firm, will see its share reduced to 30pc after the listing. stobart Group, which held a 49pc stake after the split, will maintain that level.
eddie stobart claimed it has gone through a ‘transformational period’ since being split off from stobart Group. the firm has invested heavily in technology and disposed of noncore bits of its business.
the company was previously run by William stobart, son of stobart Group founder eddie stobart, but in 2015 he took up the new role of executive chairman and was replaced as chief
executive by Alex Laffey, former distribution director at tesco, as the company shifted focus to boosting its online presence. eddie stobart now has around 2,200 vehicles, 3,800 trailers, 3,800 drivers and 24 distribution centres across the country. it has 5,500 staff overall, who will be able to participate in an employee share scheme. the firm also reported revenues of £549m last year, up from £468m the year before.
Laffey said: ‘eddie stobart is widely recognised as a leading supply chain solutions provider and an IPO is an exciting next step that will give us a strong platform for further growth.
‘We have transformed the business over the past three years and made significant investment in our customised technology and systems, alongside developing our management and workforce to support growth in new business sectors.
‘We look forward with confidence to creating value for customers and shareholders in the years to come.’
the firm was founded by eddie stobart snr as an agricultural business in Cumbria in the 1940s. He expanded into haulage during the 1970s with the help of his late son, edward stobart, who gradually took over. it then became a multi-modal logistics public company, stobart Group, in 2007, under the control of youngest son William.