Tap XPO’s plans for another spinoff

Article Excerpt

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spur consumer online shopping. That, in turn, is forcing businesses to find new ways to efficiently deliver their products to customers, including the use of last-mile services that drop off goods to shoppers’ homes. To better take advantage of this trend, XPO Logistics is using spinoffs and asset sales to focus solely on its North American trucking business. That plan began in 2021 when the company spun off its warehousing business as GXO Logistics. Later this year, XPO plans a second spinoff. This time it will be the company’s truck brokerage business. Investors tend to prefer “pure-play” businesses, so these moves should help unlock XPO’s hidden value. As well, the moderate size of each of the resulting firms—and their strong market shares—could make them attractive takeover targets for larger competitors. XPO LOGISTICS INC. $57 is a spinoff buy. The company (New York symbol XPO; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 114.8 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; No dividends paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium;…