(NYSE:GXO), said when the spinoff took effect in early August that XPO had no plans to sell its brokerage business, which has performed well. Brad Jacobs, who runs XPO after its spinoff of logistics unit GXO Logistics Inc. That raises the possibility of XPO Logistics Inc.’s (NYSE:XPO) brokerage business or privately held brokers being in play, he said. What is more linear, Majors said, is that an appetite exists to spend $1 billion or more to acquire a broker. What is certain is that because the suitor had strategic motivations for the acquisition, the bid bid did not come from a private equity firm, he said. In a Wednesday email, Majors emphasized that he’s “not unwaveringly confident” in his view, but that an analysis of Echo’s filing made him feel “confident enough to share the idea and see what sticks.” He said in his note that there’s “no smoking gun” leading him to Amazon. Robinson Worldwide Inc ( NASDAQ:CHRW), as well as several big European transport and logistics providers. For various reasons, he ruled out Schneider Inc. Majors arrived at his conclusion in part through a process of elimination. Amazon has been at the center of antitrust controversy over the manner in which it operates some of its businesses. In addition, Echo’s board became worried about potential antitrust issues as it was evaluating the acquirer’s offer, according to the filing. The unnamed acquirer raised concerns about potential “customer and carrier overlap,” suggesting the company had an existing brokerage business, Majors said.
The same year, Amazon launched its freight brokerage pilot program, Majors said. Majors also cited language in Echo’s filing, a prospectus seeking shareholder approval for the merger with Jordan, that the unnamed acquirer was one of nine companies that had expressed interest in acquiring Echo in 2019, but that nothing came of the discussions. For one, on July 5 Andy Jassy officially took over for Jeff Bezos as Amazon’s president and CEO the next day, the president and CEO of a company identified by Echo (NASDAQ:ECHO) in a Tuesday SEC filing only as “strategic company A” texted Echo CEO Douglas Waggoner asking for a dinner meeting in Chicago on July 19. In a note published Wednesday, Majors said the pieces of the puzzle fit appropriately enough for him to go public with his thoughts.
had emerged before the Chicago-based freight broker accepted in early September a $48.25-per-share all-cash buyout from private equity firm The Jordan Co., topping the unnamed suitor’s $47-a-share cash bid.īascome Majors, analyst at Susquehanna Investment Group and someone who typically doesn’t flirt publicly with M&A speculation, said Wednesday that the “evidence points” to. By Tuesday night, it had become a matter of public record that a serious suitor for Echo Global Logistics Inc.