France's Geodis nears $800 mln deal for OHL -sources

BY MIKE STONE AND PAMELA BARBAGLIA

Aug 14 French shipping and transit company Geodis SA is near a deal to pay close to $800 million for U.S. contract shipping provider Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, LLC in what would be the latest in a string of logistics tie-ups this year, people familiar with the deal said.

Private equity firms Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and Hyde Park Holdings LLC are selling the U.S. logistics company. The rise of e-commerce has increased companies' demand for shipping, making logistics companies more valuable. Private equity firms have recently been cashing in on that trend.

The price in this deal represents a multiple of about 10 times Ozburn-Hessey Logistics' $80 million of annual earnings, the people said.

The deal is slated to be announced in the coming weeks according to a person familiar with the matter. The people asked not to be named because the deliberations were private.

Geodis and Ozburn-Hessey Logistics did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither of the New York-based private equity firms responded to requests for comment.

Founded in 1951 and based in Brentwood, Tennessee, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics has more than 120 distribution centers. It has customers in the apparel, electronics, healthcare, food and beverage, and consumer packaged goods industries. Clients include Starbucks Corp,Apple Inc, Red Bull and General Motors Co.

In April, France's Norbert Dentressangle SA agreed to sell itself to Stamford Connecticut-based XPO Logistics Inc in a deal valued at $3.53 billion, including debt, making XPO one of the top 10 logistics companies in the world.

Also in April, FedEx Corp announced a deal to buy Dutch delivery service company TNT Express for 4.4 billion euro ($4.9 billion).

FedEx's main rival, package delivery company, United Parcel Service Inc agreed to pay $1.8 billion for Chicago-based Coyote Logistics from private equity firm Warburg Pincus to expand its full-truckload services in July.