Yellow Roadway in Talks to Buy USF Corp., Journal Reports

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ellow Roadway Corp. is in talks to buy USF Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The deal between the two large less-than-truckload companies could top $1 billion, the Journal reported. One source told the paper the talks were at a “delicate stage” and the deal might not go through.

The Journal said Yellow Roadway was seeking to capitalize on its stock price, which closed at a record high Feb. 16 of $57.25 per share.

Yellow Roadway's stock was trading above $58 in intraday trading Wednesday for the first time, up from $55.35 Tuesday. Its stock has risen 84% in the past year since Yellow Corp. acquired Roadway Corp. in December 2003, the Journal said.

Yellow Roadway is No. 3 in the Transport Topics 100 listing of North American for-hire carriers and USF Corp. is No. 12. In addition to LTL, USF also has logistics and warehousing operations.

Both companies are unionized and its workers are largely represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Journal said.

USF’s biggest operation is its Midwest-based USF Holland unit, which the company said last June would expand into the Northeast. That followed the closure of its USF Red Star unit in the Northeast, which the company attributed to a one-day Teamsters strike.

Yellow Roadway had 2004 net income of $184.3 million or $3.75 a share on revenue of $6.77 billion. USF had 2004 net income of $23.8 million or 85 cents a share on revenue of $2.39 billion.