Arkansas Best Corp., the parent of ABF Freight System, will sell Clipper International, the international freight forwarding division of its Clipper Group. The company also announced plans to buy the publicly-held shares of Treadco Inc., the new and retread truck tire business of which it owns 49%.
Arkansas Best acquired the Clipper Exxpress Group in October 1994 and later merged the Clipper International unit with CaroTrans International, a unit of WorldWay Corp., which ABF had acquired in 1995.
Now Arkansas Best is selling Clipper International, along with the trade name CaroTrans International, to an investor group that includes Wayne Schmidt and Greg Howard, who are members of the company’s management, and some of its foreign trading partners.
The buyers will operate the business under the CaroTrans name as a neutral non-vessel-operating common carrier providing international import and export services.
Arkansas Best decided to sell the company after attempts to increase its revenues failed, said David Humphrey, who handles ABC’s investor relations.
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