Navistar says sale speculation ‘a joke’

CHICAGO — A spokesman for Navistar International denied news reports that the company may be open to buyout offers, saying the truckmaker’s CEO was making light of a question about taking the company private.

Reuters news service said Navistar CEO Daniel Ustian made the comment during a phone conference late last week after an analyst asked whether any parties had expressed interest in helping management take the company private.

Roy Wiley, manager of external communications for Navistar, said Ustian was simply joking.

“Here’s what happened,” Wiley said. “The analyst asked five or six questions, then asked, ‘Why don’t you take the company private?’ ”

Wiley said Ustian laughed and, “said something like, ‘If you’ve got money, come and see us,’ or ‘Everything has its price.’ The point is, he was joking.

“Everyone thought that was it, and the next thing you know Dan’s got a phone call from Bloomberg saying Reuters just put out a headline saying Navistar is willing to entertain offers.”

Regarding published statements that Ustian did not deny Navistar was open to a buyout, Wiley said, “You can’t deny what isn’t happening.”

The company has been struggling to get its financial statement filed, and the question about a possible buyout came up after the company said Friday it will not meet its self-imposed deadline for filing those statements. The New York Stock Exchange said on Tuesday that it will not delist the shares of Navistar International Corp. as originally scheduled this week, pending the company’s appeal.

— via TruckingInfo.com