Westbury completes merger with Eddie Stobart

Westbury Property Fund, a Guernsey-registered commercial property and ports company, said it has completed a merger with well-known UK road haulage group Eddie Stobart Holdings. Shares of the new company have been admitted to the London Stock Exchange and will trade under the symbol STOB once the company name is changed to Stobart Group Limited on 28 September.

The merger was conducted through the acquisition by Westbury of Eddie Stobart for £137 mln (EUR 196 mln). Eddie Stobart's owners, William Stobart and Andrew Tinkler, are taking over as chief executive and chief operations officer, respectively of the company. Westbury said it has also completed a property disposal deal through which Wadi Properties, a separate business owned by the two men, acquired the majority of Westbury’s property portfolio to run it as an independent business.

Westbury brings a port development site in Runcorn, a rail freight operating business and a rail terminal in Widnes to the new group, while Eddie Stobart has over 260,000 m² of storage space and a fleet of more than 1,500 trailers and 900 trucks.

Stobart Group will have net assets of £250 mln and will provide transport services on road, rail and water, as well as storage facilities to a range of customers including Tesco, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Sarah Lee.