Swift Files With SEC to Take Firm Public
This story appears in the July 26 print edition of Transport Topics.
Truckload carrier Swift Transportation could be returning to the ranks of the publicly traded trucking companies, according to a registration statement filed last week, a move that could allow the sale of as much as $700 million in stock.
Filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission is the first step in having a company’s stock sold to the public. A sale cannot take place until after the agency approves the issuance of shares.
Swift, which ranks No. 10 on the recent Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, has been privately held since 2007. At that time, founder Jerry Moyes took the company private by paying $2.5 billion to buy out other shareholders.
“We believe our fleet capacity, terminal network, customer service and breadth of services provide significant advantages over many of our competitors,” Swift said in the filing. “Going forward, we intend to emphasize profitable revenue growth, improved asset utilization, return on investment and cost control.”
Swift Transportation currently is controlled by Swift Corp. If the transaction is completed, Swift Corp. will be merged into newly created Swift Holdings Corp.
The registration was filed at a time when six other truckload carriers reported sharp improvement in second-quarter earnings as volume and rates rose (click here for related story).
In the filing, Swift said its 2009 revenue was $2.6 billion and its fleet included 12,500 tractors and 3,700 owner-operators. More than 85% of revenue is generated by U.S. general and dedicated truckload service, with the balance from cross border, intermodal, brokerage and other services.
The filing said that the company would use the proceeds to repay part of its senior secured credit facility and the rest for other, unspecified purposes.
Swift said its operating income in the first quarter was $23.2 million, nearly double the $12.2 million it earned in the first three months of 2009, the filing said.
First-quarter revenue was $654.8 million, an improvement of about 7%.
However, interest costs that totaled $85 million in the first quarter of this year led to a loss of $53 million, according to the filing.
Swift executives declined to speak with Transport Topics about the offering, citing SEC requirements not to discuss it.
In the filing, Swift said Moyes and unnamed affiliates “will have the power to direct and control our company as a result of their stock holdings.”
Swift plans to issue new Class A shares in connection with the sale and convert existing stock held by Moyes and others into Class B shares.
