October 2, 2006 10:30 AM, EDT

USA Truck Says It Has Not Received an Offer From Liberate

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SA Truck responded on Friday to a buyout offer from Liberate Technologies, saying the company has received neither an offer nor prior written correspondence from Liberate.

Late Thursday, Liberate announced a bid to purchase USA Truck for $21 a share.

As part of the deal, Liberate would seek to take the truckload carrier private.

USA Truck said in its response that the two companies had not been involved in formal talks regarding Liberate’s proposal.

Contact between Liberate Technologies and USA Truck has been limited to a few informal telephone conversations initiated by representatives of Liberate Technologies with USA Truck's management since late August 2006,” USA Truck said in a statement.

Liberate summarily issued a second statement reiterating its buyout offer.

"Liberate has made a serious written offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the stock of USA Truck at a price of $21 per share, all cash, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the letter that we provided to USA Truck,” the company said Friday.

In his letter to Jerry Orler, president of USA Truck, Liberate President Philip Vachon last Thursday praised the truckload carrier’s management for whittling down the company’s operating ratio to 88% in June, but criticized its publicly held structure. (Click here for previous coverage.)