EGL Says Ceva’s Offer ‘Superior’ to CEO’s

EGL Inc. said Monday that a $43 proposal by Ceva Group to acquire EGL is a “superior proposal” to a proposal led by its chief executive officer.

Ceva last week made the proposal, while CEO James Crane’s offer, made along with several investment partners, was for $38 per share.

Ceva is owned by private-equity firm Apollo Management, which had made its own offer in late March of $41 a share and had sued EGL for not considering that offer. (Click here for previous coverage.)

The Apollo group's proposal is to acquire EGL in a merger transaction in which the holders of EGL common stock would receive $43.00 per share in cash. The current agreement with the Crane group provides for EGL's shareholders to receive $38.00 per share in cash.

While the current merger agreement with the Crane group remains in effect, EGL said that a special committee has notified Crane’s group of the company’s “determination and its availability to discuss and negotiate any revised proposal . . . during the period provided by the agreement,” which will end Friday.

At that time, the committee would consider whether the terms of the Apollo group proposal remains a superior proposal, EGL said.

EGL, which operates under the name Eagle Global Logistics, is ranked No. 11 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.