WSJ: Swift & Knight Transportation To Combine

(RTTNews) - As per a report published in the Wall Street Journal, Swift Transportation Co and Knight Transportation Inc. would merge in a share swap deal, which would result in Swift shareholders owning 54% of the new company. The deal which values each Swift share at $22.07 is expected to be announced on Monday.

Knight Transportation Inc is a truckload carrier offering dry van, refrigerated, and brokerage services to customers through a network of service centers located throughout the United States. The principal types of freight it transports include consumer staples, retail, paper products, packaging/plastics, manufacturing, and import/export commodities.

In March, Swift Transportation Co updated its first-quarter earnings targets to the low end of previously provided EPS ranges due to the headwinds plaguing the industry. At that time, Richard Stocking, the company's President and CEO, said: "As industry data shows, and as many of our competitors have indicated, excess carrier capacity continues to persist within the truckload industry, prolonging the competitive pricing environment that existed throughout 2016. We are also experiencing increased competition for drivers, which is very real and is prevalent across the industry. In addition, some of the winter storms have caused challenges across the country, and as a result we have experienced increases in our claims and equipment maintenance cost in January and February. We continue to attempt to offset these headwinds by focusing on increasing the utilization of our fleet, remaining committed to our cost control initiatives and improving the quality of freight within our network."