German wine logistics group Hillebrand prepped for sale -sources

KLN Logistics

01/04/2021 13:23

By Arno Schuetze
    FRANKFURT, April 1 (Reuters) - German liquor logistics group
Hillebrand is being prepared for sale by its private equity
owner in a deal that could value it at more than 1.5 billion
euros ($1.76 billion) in a sector that has seen valuations rise
in the pandemic, people close to the matter said. 
    Belgian investor Cobepa is expected to mandate a sellside
advisor in the coming months to organise the divestiture of the
alcoholic beverage freight forwarder, and is expected to start
shopping it to prospective buyers later this year, they said. 
    Cobepa and Hillebrand were not available for comment. 
    An online shopping boom during the COVID-19 pandemic has
seen demand in logistics assets rise and buyers are comfortable
paying full prices, people familiar with the industry
said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2J241R
    French railway operator SNCF is in the final stages of a
sale of its railcar arm Ermewa as it seeks to shore up its
finances in a deal that could value the unit at 2.5-3 billion
euros or 10-12 times core earnings, people close to that auction
said. 
    Infra structure investors Antin, GIP, and consortiums
comprising CDPQ and DWS and a second one including Swiss Life
and Natixis are expected to hand in final bids by a mid-April
deadline in an auction organised by Lazard, the people said. 
    SNCF, Lazard and the prospective bidders declined to
comment.
    Elsewhere, in February, Kuehne & Nagel  KNIN.S  bought Asian
logistics provider Apex for just below $1.2 billion, while Czech
logistics parks operator CTP NV  CTPNV.AS  successfully listed
on the stock exchange. 
    Mainz-headquartered Hillebrand has annual earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of 100-120 million
euros and could be valued at around 15 times that, the people
said. 
    Peers such as DSV  DSV.CO , Kuehne und Nagel  KNIN.S ,
Deutsche Post  DPWGn.DE , XPO  XPO.N  and Kerry Logistics
 0636.HK  have all seen their shares rise substantially over the
last twelve months, trading in a wide range of 7-18 times their
expected core earnings. 
    Logistics groups and private equity firms are expected to
show an interest in Hillebrand, which has annual revenue of 1.4
billion euros, serving 25,000 companies and employing 2,700
staff.
    The company was founded in 1844 and Cobepa first acquired a
40% stake in 2006, which it later increased to 58%. In October,
Hillebrand bought British peer Braid which has 200 million euros
in sales.
    In the pandemic, Hillebrand benefited among other from a
surge in bulk shipments of wine, which are being bottled in
Europe and sold at retailers, while restaurants were unable to
serve their typically pricier wines usually bottled directly at
the vineyard.
    
($1 = 0.8518 euros)

 (Additional reporting by Gwen Barzic; editing by David Evans)
 ((arno.schuetze@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30220133648;))