Swift receives bid from former CEO

The Trucker News Services

11/6/2006

PHOENIX (Nov. 6, 2006) — Truckload carrier Swift Transportation reported today it has received a $29 per share offer to take the company private. Former Chairman and CEO Jerry Moyes, who holds a 27 percent stake in Swift and is a company director, said in a letter delivered Nov. 3 he would “roll over substantially” his current investment to finance an all-cash purchase of outstanding stock in an arrangement with investment banking firm Morgan, Stanley.

In announcing the offer, Swift stated the company’s board of directors would review and evaluate the proposal, “consistent with its fiduciary duties.” The news release also included the text of Moyes' offer.

“Given Swift's recent performance, $29 per share is a full and fair price for Swift’s common stock, providing an attractive opportunity for its stockholders to maximize the value of their investment in Swift.” Moyes’ letter states. “I believe such a transaction would be in the best interests of Swift and its stockholders, and that Swift’s stockholders will find such a transaction compelling.”

The letter goes on to suggest the price could be negotiable, and that Moyes “would very much like to move forward on a cooperative and amicable basis.”

Moyes set a Nov. 20 deadline on the proposal.

Swift shares closed Nov. 3 at $24.05 on the NASDAQ exchange. As of 1 p.m. Eastern time, trading today reached as high as $30.10. Swift stock has traded between $18.80 and $33.66 during the current 52-week period.

A number of large, publicly-held carriers have reported the pre-holiday peak freight season has been slow to materialize, while Wall Street analysts generally say stocks in the trucking sector have been slowed by freight volumes that will have a hard time matching levels from the two previous years.

A Swift spokesman told The Trucker the company could not comment on the offer because of Securities and Exchange Commission regulations.

— The Trucker Staff