Wall Street Analysts Back C.H. Robinson's $5.8 Billion RXO Deal as S&P Turns Cautious

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4▲1 ▼0Impact / 5
Summary · why it matters

Wall Street analysts largely endorsed C.H. Robinson's roughly $5.8 billion acquisition of RXO, valuing the combined company at more than $25 billion, though S&P Global Ratings shifted its outlook on C.H. Robinson's debt to negative. On the analyst call, UBS's Tom Wadewitz said the deal was "bigger than expected," while Bank of America Merrill Lynch kept its buy rating but cut its price objective to $203 from $226 to account for equity dilution. C.H. Robinson projects $300 million in synergies and said the deal would be accretive to earnings within nine months of a close anticipated in the first half of next year, and mid-teens accretive to adjusted EPS in 2028. S&P Global affirmed its BBB+ rating but warned that proforma funds from operations to debt at close would land in the mid to high 20% area, materially below its 45% downside scenario, while Moody's affirmed its Baa2 rating and left its outlook unchanged. C.H. Robinson said it would halt stock buybacks until it reaches a target leverage ratio of 1.75x to 2.25x net debt to adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2028.

Impact on assets 6

Industrials▲
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc
CHRW
± MixedCapitalrelevance

C.H. Robinson's $5.8B RXO acquisition draws analyst endorsement and projected synergies, but S&P's negative outlook and buyback halt add caution.

RXO Inc.
RXO
▲ PositiveCapitalrelevance

RXO is being acquired by C.H. Robinson in a roughly $5.8 billion deal that analysts largely endorsed.

Financials▲
Cloud & Digital Infrastructure▲