American parcels giant eyes the bid territory for Exel
American parcels giant UPS is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs to explore whether it should enter the fray for Exel, potentially triggering a bid battle for the British supply chain company. UPS, which is valued at USD78billion (pounds 42billion) and has very little debt, has long kept a watching brief on Exel, which on Thursday revealed it had received a preliminary takeover approach from Deutsche Post, the German owner of the DHL courier business. Exel shares slipped 3½ yesterday to pounds 11.75, valuing the business at pounds 3.4billion. UPS has been building up its freight forwarding operations, through 2001’s USD450m acquisition of Fritz and last year’s USD150m purchase of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding but lacks Exel’s strong presence in contract logistics – managing the supply chain for blue-chip companies.
Acquiring Exel would maintain UPS’s leadership in parcels delivery, freight forwarding and contract logistics.
