Andrew Tinkler aims to offer rival resolution at crunch Eddie Stobart shareholder vote
Former Stobart Group boss Andrew Tinkler is aiming to offer Eddie Stobart shareholders a rival funding package to vote on at the struggling trucking firm’s general meeting on Friday.
Eddie Stobart’s board has recommended an offer from fund Dbay which would provide an emergency £55m high-interest loan to the haulier in exchange for a 51 per cent stake.
Tinkler told City PM he hopes to get support from Eddie Stobart’s lenders for a rival package which would involve a £70m-£80m equity raise backed by both existing shareholders and new investors.
Read more: Tinkler says Stobart Group supportive of his proposal to rescue struggling haulier
“We have got a lot of shareholder support for our deal at the moment. We are working with advisers and the banks to see if we can effect that proposal to give them a secondary resolution on Friday,” he said.
It is understood that some of the cash raised would be earmarked to pay down debt to Eddie Stobart’s lenders.
Tinkler is working with brokers Zeus Capital and Whitman Howard on the rival fundraising package through his TVFB vehicle.
On Friday, Eddie Stobart said: “[Dbay’s] proposal is the only concrete offer to date which has the support of the lenders and secures the long-term future of the company.”
Read more: Eddie Stobart asks shareholders to back Dbay’s £55m rescue deal
Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, BNP Paribas, and KBC – which are owed £200m between them – have granted Eddie Stobart a waiver relating to breaches of its credit facility until 13 December.
Eddie Stobart said it would face an “imminent liquidity shortfall, imminent expiry of the waiver and no support from the lenders to explore alternative options” if the vote failed.
The company said its lenders had said they would not support any alternative proposal that required additional funding.
It said its lenders had told representatives of TVFB this on 20 November.
The Dbay deal has been backed by shareholder advisory firms Glass Lewis, Pirc and ISS.
Rival trucking firm Wincanton pulled out of a potential bid for Eddie Stobart last Monday, blaming a lack of concrete financial information.
Eddie Stobart’s shares were suspended in August after an accounting scandal. It has still not published its interim results.
Dbay’s stake in Eddie Stobart rose from 10 per cent to 27 per cent on Friday after it bought fund manager Neil Woodford’s stake at 6p a share. Shares had been trading at 70p when they were suspended.
Dbay was contacted for comment.