Three carriers seek to go public

Filings come on heels of apparent industry rebound

As strong second-quarter earnings by publicly traded trucking companies pointed to a likely rebound for the industry, three large carriers are seeking to sell stock in initial public offerings (IPOs). The IPOs would be the first in trucking in several years, indicating that at least some in the financial community see a promising future for the industry. Until now, the trend had been toward privatization; several carriers, including Swift Transportation, U.S. Xpress and Boyd Bros. Transportation, have become private companies in recent years.

In late July, Swift Holdings Corp. filed a registration statement with the Securities Exchange Commission to take Phoenix-based truckload giant Swift Transportation public once again. Swift Holdings would merge with Swift Transportation parent Swift Corp. immediately. Swift had been a public company since the early 1990s until founder Jerry Moyes took the carrier private in 2007. While Swift still was public, Moyes had stepped down from management as a result of an SEC investigation of insider stock trading.

According to Swift Holdings’ preliminary prospectus, as of March 31 Swift operated 12,500 company-owned tractors, 3,700 owner-operator tractors, 49,400 trailers and 4,300 intermodal containers from 35 major terminals throughout the United States and Mexico.

About two weeks later, Panther Expedited Services filed an IPO registration statement with SEC. The Seville, Ohio-based expedited transportation company said in the preliminary prospectus that its nonasset-based transportation network consists of about 1,075 exclusive-use owner-operator vehicles, more than 1,600 third-party ground carriers that provide additional North American capacity and more than 500 air and ocean cargo carriers that provide global reach.

Currently, funds managed by private equity investment firm Fenway Partners own more than 75 percent of Panther’s common stock and will remain the company’s largest shareholder after the IPO. New York-based Fenway Partners also owns a controlling interest in intermodal carrier RoadLink LLC.

A week after Panther’s IPO filing, New Century Transportation filed to go public. The Westampton, N.J.-based carrier told SEC that it expects to raise $120 million in the IPO and would use the proceeds to fund expansion. Founded by Harry Muhlschlegel in July 2000, New Century’s controlling interest has been held by investment funds affiliated with Jefferies Capital Partners since June 2006.