UTi Worldwide Agrees to $1.35 Billion Acquisition by DSV
Logistics operator UTi Worldwide Inc. agreed to a $1.35 billion acquisition by DSV, a Danish supply chain and forwarding company, that marks the latest consolidation in that industry.
UTi, which ranks No. 9 on the Transport Topics Top 50 list of the largest logistics companies in the United States, Canada and Mexico, announced that DSV would pay $7.10 per share, or 50% more than the closing price on Oct. 8.
The acquisition of the U.S. company, which has struggled to reverse recent losses through a restructuring, follows logistics-related transactions this year involving XPO Logistics, FedEx Corp., UPS Inc. and Echo Global Logistics.
“We are very excited to be joining forces with DSV, which we believe will strengthen our value proposition to our clients, while providing a meaningful cash premium to the holders of our ordinary shares relative to the recent trading prices,” said Ed Feitzinger, CEO of UTi, which is based in Long Beach, California. “We have the opportunity to draw on the current strengths and scale of both companies to bring solutions to our clients that we could not have delivered on our own.”
Kurt Larsen, chairman of DSV’s board, said “the combined business and workforce will reach new levels together.”
DSV is No. 13 on TT’s Ocean Freight Forwarding list and No. 17 on the Airfreight Forwarding compilation.
The companies said they expect to complete the deal in the first quarter, following approval by UTi shareholders. There are no financing conditions, the statement said.
