XPO Considering Sale of Con-way Truckload Unit XPO Logistics has received offers for Con-way’s truckload business, but hasn’t decided whether to sell.
By PAUL PAGE
Oct. 7, 2015 12:22 p.m. ET
XPO Logistics Inc. has received offers for the truckload division of Con-way Inc., the trucking operator it is acquiring in a $3 billion deal, but the company hasn’t decided whether to sell, Chief Executive Bradley Jacobs said Wednesday.
A sale would carve out an operation with $632 million in annual revenue, about 11% of Con-way’s overall revenue, but that has seen slimmer profits this year. A truckload carrier will handle a load from a single retailer or manufacturer. That’s a relatively small portion of Con-way’s business, which is centered around handling loads for multiple customers on its trucks.
“We have made no decision yet on whether or not to keep Con-way Truckload. It’s true we have received several unsolicited inbound calls from interested buyers but we haven’t decided,” Mr. Jacobs said in an e-mail.
XPO shares, which reached a 2015 low of $21.62 on Sept. 28, were up 2% Wednesday to $28.76.
XPO announced the purchase of Con-way in September, the latest in a series of big acquisitions that includes the purchase earlier this year of French trucker Norbert Dentressangle SA for $3.5 billion. The deals push XPO beyond its roots as an “asset-light” freight broker, where the company arranges freight transport for industrial shippers on other companies’ trucks, and into the business of operating its own trucks. Selling off Con-way Truckload would focus XPO more directly on the less-than-truckload arena, where trucks operate on shorter hauls, often in scheduled operations from distribution centers to stores.
Con-way Truckload ranks as the 20th-largest truckload carrier in the U.S. , according to SJ Consulting Group, but has seen its share of the market shrink in the last two years. The unit’s revenue fell 11% in the first six months of this year and its operating earnings declined 23% to $23.6 million.
Mr. Jacobs said XPO already is looking at changes in Con-way Freight’s LTL service as the company prepares to close on the deal this quarter. He said the company is considering adding a cheaper economy service to Con-way’s premium-priced distribution service.
Con-way recently announced a 4.9% general rate increase for its non-contract LTL service, effective Oct. 19.
Write to Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com
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