Knight, Swift Shareholders Approve Merger in Separate Votes
The $6 billion Swift-Knight truckload merger is racing to completion as shareholders of both companies approved the transaction Sept. 7, and the carriers said it would close Sept. 8.
The two Phoenix-based carriers will become Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings and trade as KNX on the New York Stock Exchange.
Swift Transportation is already North America’s largest truckload carrier, and Knight Transportation is the 12th largest. Swift is ranked No. 7 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers, and Knight is No. 30.
Based on 2016 figures, the new company would have more than $5 billion in annual revenue and rank No. 5 on the TT100.
The two companies announced their intention to merge on April 9.
Both companies had special shareholders meetings on Sept. 7 to consider the deal and both sets of shareholders approved.
Stock in the new company will be apportioned according to a two-part formula. Old Knight shares will become new shares of Knight-Swift at a one-for-one ratio, the companies said. Each old share of Swift will become 72% of a new Knight-Swift share.
The merged company will have more than 23,000 tractors (company and owner-operator), 85,000 trailers and intermodal containers, and nearly 28,000 employees.
In addition to basic truckload work, the two companies also provide services in refrigerated transportation, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal and freight brokerage.
