The Eddie Stobart lorry company has bought its own name in a £10m deal aimed at ending confusion about the brand’s ownership.
The lorry business, beloved by truckspotters up and down the land, will buy the Eddie Stobart and Stobart brands from a subsidiary of Stobart Group, a London-listed engineering, energy and aviation group whose interests include Southend airport.
Under the agreement Stobart Group will rename itself.
The lorry firm was spun off from the main business as a separate logistics operation and floated on Aim six years ago as Eddie Stobart Logistics, with its largest shareholder being asset manager Dbay Advisors.
The trucking company was able to continue using the iconic Eddie Stobart trademark under licence from Stobart Group, paying a £13.7m fee for a 15-year agreement.
The first six years of the licence were royalty free but this expired at the end of February, with annual payment of £3m due from March 1 this year.
Now the two companies have agreed the £10m sale that they hope will help reduce investor confusion between the companies.
There will be an overlap though, with Stobart Group having until February to take on a new identity, and some of its divisions will be able to use the Eddie Stobart brand for a further three years.