Navistar Investors Push Board to Sell Company
A group representing investors who hold about 30% of Navistar International Corp.’s 59 million outstanding stock shares told the firm’s directors to sell the company if that is the only way to avoid ending up a wallflower in the current round of industry consolidations.
The investors, led by a New York investment firm, told Navistar that it must consider selling all or part of the truck and engine manufacturer, seek a merger or spin off parts of its holdings because Navistar’s stock has been falling at the same time other companies have been gobbled up by competitors at premium prices.
On July 19, Freightliner, based in Portland, Ore., announced an agreement to buy Western Star Trucks for about $453 million in U.S. currency. The next day, DaimlerChrysler said it was buying Detroit Diesel for $423 million. The transaction involves payment of $23 each for about 18.1 million shares of Detroit Diesel stock. At the time, Detroit Diesel’s stock was trading below $18.
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 |  Source: Bloomberg Graphic: Transport Topics |
| Navistar's stock price has tracked closely with the relative value of the S&P 500 index since August, but slumped badly against the S&P’s sub-index of truck assembly companies and parts makers. |
A two-day, nearly $1 billion-dollar buying spree July 19 and 20 on the part of rival truck builder Freightliner and its parent company, DaimlerChrysler, triggered the investors’ action.
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