Nightfreight will be bought by directors
Senior executives at Night- freight have announced amanagement buyout of the UK parcels company, valuing it at £35.1m ( 55.1m).
Nightfreight Logistics MD Robert Kelly, finance director Craig Russell, northern commercial manager Paul Watson and IT director John Miller are behind the establishment of Ewenny, a company formed to buy Nightfreight.
Ewenny, backed by finance from Barclays Private Equity, last week announced that it had reached agreement with the independent directors of Nightfreight to buy shares at 69p.
The price represented a54% premium on its14December level ? the day before it announced it was in acquisition talks ? and a 10.4% premium on its price on 26 January, the day before the takeover was announced.
The agreement means that Ewenny has received irrevocable undertakings for 27.8m shares, representing 54.7% of Nightfreight?s shares.
Other shareholders are expected to agree to sell up by the 19February offer closure.
Kelly said: ?The potential here is considerable.
We have a particular focus on the awkward heavy end of the parcels market, but we are also rapidly developing logistics.
Our initial concern will be to get the company bedded down and the business plan implemented.? Nightfreight released its preliminary results for the 12 months to the end of November last year alongside the announcement.
Pre-tax profit rose by 9.5% to £4.51m ( 7m) on a turnover 2.2% up to £96m ( 151m).
The core parcels business, which accounted for 65.6% of turnover, saw its profit rise by 16.2%to £5.6m ( 8.8m).
Margins were up from 8.5% to 8.9%.Thenetwork comprises 50 depots, of which 30are owned and the rest franchise operations.
Turnover in the international and logistics division fell by 11.5% to £33m ( 51.8m), pushing operating profit down from £1m to£600,000 ( 942,000).
The company blamed the strength of sterling for ?weighing heavily? on performance.
The current chief executive, Ron Sullivan, who will be replaced by Kelly, said: ?I?ve been here for three and a half years and from a rocky start we?ve come good.
?We were the only parcel company that moved forward in what was a very difficult year because of fuel prices, blockades, poor weather and floods.?
Posted: 02/02/01
