Arkansas Best Rebuffs YRC’s Bid to Buy ABF Freight System

Arkansas Best Corp. said in a regulatory filing Thursday that it rejected an overture by less-than-truckload competitor YRC Worldwide to buy its ABF Freight System unit.

Arkansas Best said the talks were held in March and that it told YRC in early April that ABF was “highly focused on its ongoing labor negotiations” with the Teamsters union, “as well as other strategic and operational initiatives and that considering a transaction with YRC was not appropriate at that time.”

Arkansas Best said its Security and Exchange Commission filing was “in response to a third-party inquiry” and that it has not engaged in any subsequent discussions with YRC.

An ABF official told Transport Topics Thursday the company had no statement beyond the filing.

YRC, in a statement released Thursday, confirmed the talks.

“Our board and management believed then and believes now that the combination of Arkansas Best and YRC would be in the best interests of all employees, customers and shareholders of both companies,” YRC CEO James Welch said in the statement.

ABF and the Teamsters union said earlier this month they reached a tentative five-year labor agreement, although no details have been released.

Arkansas Best recently reported a first-quarter loss, while YRC posted a first-quarter operating profit for the first time in six years.

YRC Worldwide is ranked No. 4 and Arkansas Best is No. 13 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.