Eddie Stobart shareholders back rescue deal

Eddie Stobart shareholders have backed a bailout by private equity firm Douglas Bay Capital (DBay) that will save the logistics business from collapse.

The company said in a statement on Friday that shareholders had voted "overwhelmingly" in favour of the deal, which will see DBay Advisors inject £55m of new financing that will be used to pay off lenders in return for a 51% stake in the company.

Chief executive officer Sebastien Desreumaux said: "The proposed transaction provides Eddie Stobart with the opportunity to move forward and look to deliver sustainable growth and profitability from a stable footing.

"Our main priority and focus is now continuing to deliver the high levels of services expected by our customers as we move into the busy Christmas period."

Before the deal was approved, union Unite claimed that Stobart’s employees would be victims of "bandit capitalism" if it went ahead, arguing that it would provide no certainty beyond the short term.

"A report commissioned by Unite, by consulting service Syndex has revealed that rather than a cash injection of £55m that as a result of fees and charges demanded by DBay and Stobart’s lenders as little as £15m will be pumped into the business in the medium term," it said.

"In fact the cash injection will be considerably less than the £23.9 million extracted from the company in the form of a dividend payment to shareholders just a few months ago. A payment, which DBay, which already has a major shareholding did not oppose.

"In return ESL will be loaded down with debt making the company a prime candidate for being broken up and the profitable parts sold off."

DBay is backed by William Stobart, the son of founder Eddie Stobart.