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June 30, 1999 11:32 AM, EDT

Less than a year after paying $19.3 million to buy 2.1 million shares of TransFinancial Holdings’ stock to thwart a takeover by the company’s two largest shareholders, three members of the board of directors have offered to buy out all the remaining shares for $5.25 a share, or about $17.1 million.

Over the past year, TransFinancial stock has traded as high as $9.50 a share and as low as $2.75 a share.

TransFinancial is the parent of regional less-than-truckload freight carrier Crouse Cartage Co. and Universal Premium Acceptance Corp., a company that finances insurance premiums for small businesses. The company also owns a stake in a start-up industrial technology business called Presis.

The buyout proposal was submitted to TransFinancial’s board of directors June 21 by Chairman William D. Cox, president of Applewood ���ϳԹ���s; Vice Chairman Ray R. Laborde, president of Amboy Grain; and company president Timothy P. O’Neil. The three men currently own about 10% of TransFinancial’s stock.

A special committee of independent directors will evaluate the proposal and “other options,” which, according to company spokesman Kent E. Wittaker, could include “continuing to operate, liquidating or inviting inquiries from other parties.”

For the full story, see the June 28 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.