French warehouse specialist Argan and Belgian peer WDP agreed to create a 13 billion euros ($14.79 billion) logistics real estate company through an all-share merger, marking the latest move toward consolidation in the European sector.

Under the terms of the deal, Argan shareholders will receive three newly issued WDP shares for each Argan share held. The French company intends to propose an exceptional preclosing distribution of 11 euros a share, the companies said.

Based on WDP's closing share price of 22.74 euros on Thursday, and including the exceptional distribution, the offer values Argan at 79.22 euros a share. The offer represents a premium of around 21% to Argan's closing share price of 65.40 euros on Thursday, and around 30% to its three-month volume-weighted average share price.

In early European trading, Argan shares were up 14% at 74.70 euros, while WDP shares were down 1.1% at 22.50 euros. In the year to date, Argan and WDP shares have gained 13% and 1.8%, respectively.

The companies said the transaction was unanimously supported by both of their boards, the supervisory board of Argan and by key shareholders including Credit Agricole Assurances, through its subsidiary Predica.

The deal comes on the heels of another major move toward consolidation in European logistics real estate. U.S. warehouse landlord Prologis this week made a final bid of around $18.7 billion for smaller U.K. rival Segro, which owns industrial and logistics properties across Europe and develops a portfolio of data centers.

Argan's merger with WDP should deliver 10 million euros of synergies within 12 months and offer immediate value for both shareholder groups, the companies said.

The deal, which remains subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027.

Write to Najat Kantouar at najat.kantouar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 24, 2026 04:02 ET (08:02 GMT)

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