... as expected: Nippon Express snaps up Austria's cargo-partner

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NIKKEI ASIA reports:

Nippon Express Holdings, the holding company of Nippon Express, will purchase a majority stake in Austrian logistics company Cargo-Partner for over 100 billion yen ($743 million), Nikkei has learned.

Japan’s domestic market is not expected to grow in the medium to long term due to a shrinking population and other factors. Nippon Express hopes the acquisition of the Cargo-Partner, which is strong in Europe, the U.S., and Asia, will help it become more competitive in international logistics.

An agreement is expected to reached by the end of Friday. If the deal goes through, it will be Nippon Express Holdings’ largest acquisition to date…

The full story is here.

Our previous coverage follows:

– ‘cargo-partner sale – turning Japanese?‘ (26 February)

– ‘Track & trace: M&A life post CMA CGM + Bolloré Logistics’ (24 April)

Done deal now: the official statement from the seller is here.

Nippon Express said that the ordinary shares of the 63 target companies which are part of the Austrian group were valued at €845m, but the actual purchase price will be determined after adjustments in relation to net debt and net working capital of cargo-partner are made at time of completion. Moreover, “a maximum of EUR 555 million (JPY 83,250 million) will be paid in cash to the sellers, based on the target companies’ earnings reaching a certain financial threshold agreed to in the agreement”.