More mergers expected in 2015, says report

This year, mergers and acquisitions in the transport and logistics sector will supersede the levels seen in 2014, according to KPMG’s latest ‘Transport Tracker’. The first quarter of 2015 has already seen completed global transactions worth £6.7bn and further acquisitions valued at £6.7bn have already been announced. The research found that purchase prices rose, which meant the average business valuation of transactions in the transport sector increased in 2014 to 11.9 times EBITDA, compared to nine times in 2013. This was due to the increase in strategic acquisitions and the increased appetite for takeovers of transport companies combined with low availability of suitable target companies that are for sale. The trend is set to continue in 2015, says the report.

UK Head of Transport at KPMG, James Stamp, said, ‘Total deal values of transport and logistics transactions in 2014 amounted to £39.6bn and we expect this figure to be superseded in 2015. In addition to high volume transactions for the purpose of inorganic growth (particularly by US companies as a result of the strength of the US dollar) we expect selective acquisitions of specialized IT and e-commerce companies will increasingly shape the M&A strategies of transport companies.’