Former Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) boss Andrew Tinkler is pressing forward with a rescue plan for struggling haulier Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL), which faces a cash crunch and a fight to save 6,500 jobs. Mr Tinkler, who ran the logistics fleet as part of Stobart Group until 2014, is preparing a £75m deal for the trucking company. On Friday, Eddie Stobart recommended to shareholders a £55m loan from investment firm Dbay Advisors that would give it a majority stake and saddle existing shareholders with losses.
He has been exceedingly successful for decades in Britain, but Mr Kipling has a new ambition: to conquer America. The move is part of efforts by owner Premier Foods (PFD) to recover from crisis and fend off pressure from activist investors. Chief executive Alex Whitehouse said it wanted to replicate its success in Australia, where it now has a 10pc share of the cake market. He said: “We’ve got a 1,000-store experiment that we’re running in the US to see if we can gain some traction for Kipling cakes in the States.” Premier Foods’ ambitions come as it prepares to unveil the results of its strategic review, which could see it announce the sale of one or more brands.
