Trucking M&A: Swift Transportation Co (SWX), Knight Transportation (KNX) to Merge

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Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT) and Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX) are planning to merge in an all-stock transaction.

Trucking M&A: Swift Transportation Co (SWX), Knight Transportation (KNX) to MergeThe deal will have Swift Transportation Co and Knight Transportation combining to become Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. The new company will trade under the KNX ticker and will be the largest trucking company in the business.

Swift Transportation Co’s stock will be converted into KNX shares in a reverse reverse stock split. Each SWFT share will be worth 0.72 KNX shares. This includes Swift Transportation Co’s Class B stock. After the deal, there will only be Class A KNX shares.

The deal between Swift Transportation Co and Knight Transportation is expected to create a company with an enterprise value of $6 billion.The companies are expecting the merger to be accretive to earnings in the second half of 2017 with $15 million in pre-tax synergies. This is expected to rise to $100 million in 2018 and $150 million in 2019.

Swift Transportation Co’s and Knight Transportation’s merger has received unanimous approval from both companies’ Board of Directors. Knight-Swift Board of Directors will include all current KNX Board members and four SWFT members. The Jerry Moyes family, which has the majority of SWFT stock, will be allowed to add two directors of their choice to the Board.

Dave Jackson, the CEO of Knight Transportation, will take on the CEO role at Knight-Swift. Adam Miller, KNX’s CFO will take the CFO role at Knight-Swift. Richard Stocking and Ginnie Henkels, the CEO and CFO of Swift Transportation Co, won’t be a part of Knight-Swift after the merger.

Swift Transportation Co and Knight Transportation are expecting the merger deal to close during the third quarter of 2017. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and approval from regulators. It will also need approval from SWFT and KNX shareholders before it can be completed.

SWFT stock was down 2% and KNX stock was down 1% as of Tuesday morning.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/04/swift-transportation-co-knight-swx-knx/.

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