FRANKFURT, GERMANY: Linde AG said that it is planning to sell its temperature-controlled logistics unit Gist, as it streamlines its operations to focus on its core industrial gases operations, two persons familiar with the matter said.
Linde has mandated Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for the unit with €570 million in 2014 sales and is planning to send out first information packages to prospective bidders by the end of the month, they added.
Linde and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Linde had earmarked Gist for sale in March last year, when chief executive Wolfgang Buechele had said that the unit, which delivers cooled food and beverages mainly in the UK, was no longer considered ‘core business.’
The company is expected to shop Gist to logistics players such as Deutsche Post, UPS, Kuehne+Nagel, Logwin, Imperial as well as private equity groups.
Tentative bids for Gist, whose key customers include British retailer Marks and Spencer, are due at the end of February, the sources said.
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