Lane group has exchanged contracts on a sale and leaseback of its property at Portbury.
Proceeds net of costs will be £3.9m and there will be an ongoing rental obligation for 15 years to the break clause, starting at £325, 000 a year. Bank facilities are confirmed, subject to the completion of the sale and leaseback.
DX Services PLC said its newly appointed chief executive Paul Kehoe has bought 5,000 ordinary shares in the British mail delivery company at 323.50 pence each, and now holds 11,500 shares, or 0.014 pct of the issued capital. Kehoe was appointed DX Services chief executive last month.
Read MoreThe decision of TNT to put a ‘for sale’ sign on the majority of its worldwide logistics activities has prompted a series of questions from industry observers and analysts.
Much of the speculation revolves around the identity of likely potential buyers and whether the logistics business will be sold as one entity or hived off in pieces to several purchasers.
There are also questions about the timing of the move by the Netherlands-based mail, express and logistics group, and the reasons behind it.
Announcing its decision largely to withdraw from logistics during next year, TNT stated last week that a strategic review of its businesses had concluded that the group’s strength lay in designing, implementing and running de- livery networks in the mail, express and freight management sectors.
Read MoreThere is a mystery over the timing of the resignation of Paul Carvell, the chief executive of delivery firm Business Post. He quit after the company issued two profits warnings in three months. But why didn’t Carvell step down in November when Business Post issued its last warning?
Perhaps he fought to stay and had to be persuaded by chairman Peter Kane, whose family owns nearly 40 per cent of the shares. Kane has intimated that Carvell wasn’t pushed, but whatever the truth, the three-week time lag between the November profits warning and the departure of Carvell has been cause for concern.
Some investors have convinced themselves that the delay was due to the fact that the company found that trading conditions deteriorated further in the last 21 days, and that there could be another profits alert around the corner. On the basis of three profits warnings and you are out, Carvell had no choice but to go.
Read MoreThe 200,000 workers at Royal Mail will each receive one share worth up to Pounds 2,500 if the government-owned body is part-privatised. Allan Leighton, Royal Mail’s chairman, is pressing the Department of Trade and Industry to support a plan to give 20% of the group’s shares to staff. This stake would be worth Pounds 400m – 500m and put an effective value on Royal Mail of almost Pounds 2.5 billion. The share sale is part of a complex Pounds 2 billion fundraising that Leighton is pursuing. The proceeds will be used to reduce the size of the group’s huge pension deficit, which has swollen to Pounds 4.2 billion, and to fund investment – particularly for automated equipment. Royal Mail has retained Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, to advise on the fundraising, and a document will be sent to the government in the next six weeks.
Read More
Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.
