LTL carrier YRC expresses interest in buying out yet another competitor

[Skeeter Barnes]

Arkansas Best Corp. (ABFS) said YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) in March expressed interest in acquiring its ABF Freight System Inc. unit, but the freight-transportation provider hasn't begun negotiations with the trucking company.

Shares were recently trading 9% higher at $16.73.

Arkansas Best said it told YRC Worldwide that ABF was focusing on ongoing labor negotiations and other strategic and operational initiatives and it didn't believe considering a transaction was appropriate at that time, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

YRC Worldwide confirmed it was told the "timing was not right to consider such a transaction." [/div class=excerpt]




http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130509-709466.html

Yellow never should have been allowed to purchase and destroy Roadway Express. Now, they want to do the same to ABF after YRC just went through a huge change of operations, closing a bunch of terminals and relocating or letting people go.

If YRC needed to close all those terminals, why would they now want to buy all of those ABF docks?

IBT statement:

http://www.teamster.org/content/hoffa-statement-yrcw-efforts-acquire-frieght-division-abf

[elleng]

1. Right about Yellow etc,

much too much consolidation among transport firms, and no regulation for motor carriers.

[Teamster Jeff]

2. They probably don't want the terminals

YRC just wants ABF's customers. The timing is suspect though. I was with Nationsway Transport and they folded in 99 during contract negotiations.