Former Swift chief bids to take fleet private

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The former owner of the second-largest truckload carrier in North America is offering $2.17 billion to take back the company he founded.

Swift Transportation founder Jerry Moyes, who was ousted as CEO after insider trading allegations last year, is offering the board $29 a share, reports Bloomberg.

The 62 year-old Moyes — who sits on the board and is the company’s largest shareholder with a 26 percent stake — would take the 18,000-truck fleet private if the proposal is accepted.

The company had sales of $3.2 billion last year.

“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,’ Moyes said in the letter, a copy of which was released by Swift.

Some investors, however, may be expecting a higher bid, Bloomberg reports.

“The offer clearly leaves the door open for a premium above the current 21 percent offer,” UBS Securities analyst Rick Paterson said in a note.

Moyes, who is also majority investor in the Phoenix Coyotes NHL team, and is a limited partner in baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks, paid $1.25 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September 2005 to settle a case accusing him of insider trading. He stepped down as chairman and CEO in October 2005.

— from Bloomberg