Knight Transportation Inc. raised its stake in takeover-target USA Truck Inc. to 12.4% and denied breach- of-contract allegations.
Knight, based in Phoenix, increased its stake from 11%, according to a regulatory filing made Oct. 15 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That move followed an Oct. 11 denial by Knight that it had used confidential information in preparing its $9 per share offer for USA Truck.
USA Truck has rejected the offer, saying the company鈥檚 value is much higher.
鈥淥ur proposal was based on an extensive analysis we have performed of the company鈥檚 publicly disclosed information,鈥 Knight鈥檚 statement said. 鈥淕iven that our all-cash premium proposal delivers value that is superior, immediate and more certain than USA Truck鈥檚 risky stand-alone plan, we believe USA Truck鈥檚 board should withdraw its lawsuit.鈥
USA Truck on Oct. 10 filed the suit in Circuit Court of Crawford County in Van Buren, Ark., its headquarters city. The Arkansas carrier鈥檚 statement said Knight began 鈥渁 creeping hostile acquisition鈥 with information 鈥減rovided in the context of friendly and private discussions regarding a negotiated transaction between the companies.鈥
Transport Topics