Westerbury to sell off properties in merger deal

Westbury Property Fund, a Guernsey-registered commercial property and ports company, has agreed to dispose of the majority of its property portfolio for £142 mln (EUR 210 mln) as part of a complex merger with well-known UK road haulage group Eddie Stobart Holdings. The merger is being conducted through the acquisition by Westbury of Eddie Stobart for £137 mln. Eddie Stobart's owners, William Stobart and Andrew Tinkler, will take over as chief executive and chief operations officer respectively at the combined company which will be re-named Stobart Group.

The group will also take over Westbury's stock market listing in London. At the same time, Wadi Properties, a separate business owned by the two men, is acquiring Westbury's property portfolio to run it as an independent business. The disposal of Westbury's property and the merger with Eddie Stobart Holdings is expected to take place next month.

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.

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. Each of the units is christened with a female name, inspiring a truck- spotting craze among some members of the public.