The Trucker
1/15/2008
Byline Article from Gary Ciuba, Managing Director
Waning interest from institutional investors and depressed stock
prices have created a dismal environment for trucking companies
looking to go public. These stock prices and strong credit markets
recently, however, created a great environment for public truckers
interested in going private. Witness the spending spree by private
equity firms: In just the first five months of 2007, private equity
acquired 16 for-hire carriers, more than all of last year (Source:
Transport Topics, July 23, 2007). Fully leveraged debt deals were
also in evidence, as companies like Swift Transport went private
under management buyouts. In fact, five of the top 10 truckload
carriers are now privately held.
In the past few months, however, the market conditions have
changed. Banks are shying away from lending to corporate clients
and struggling to find buyers for hundreds of billions of dollars
in debt stemming from the leveraged-buyout boom. Private equity
firms had grown accustomed to easy credit and have recently had a
difficult time persuading banks to underwrite their takeovers. So
where does that leave trucking companies interested in going
private or those looking for strategic acquisitions?
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