Jerry C. Moyes, chairman of Swift Transportation, has launched a takeover bid for Simon Transportation Services of Salt Lake City.
Moyes has offered $39 million, or $7 a share, for the part of the company that he does not already own. He leads a group that has owned 9.9% of Simon since last year.
According to a Simon news release, Moyes declined an offer of a seat on the company’s board of directors. Richard D. Simon, chief executive officer and chairman at Moyes, said he and his family were not interested in selling out their 45-year-old business to Moyes.
Although Simon said he would not sell, he added the board of directors would not stand in the way of the tender offer that runs through Aug. 31. Since the start of this year, Simon common stock has been trading on Nasdaq from $4.50 to $6.12 a share. The price at the close of trading on May 24 was $5.69 a share.
“We continue to believe that our stock is undervalued,” said Simon, whose company specializes in refrigerated truckload services.
Swift, the firm run by Moyes, runs dry van and flatbed truckloads.
