EGL Receives $40 Per-Share Offer From Apollo Management

Deal Would Top CEO James Crane’s $1.7 Billion Offer
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Just a day after it said it would be sold for $38 a share to a group headed by its chief executive officer, transportation firm EGL Inc. said it had received a competing offer for $40 a share from another investment group.EGL said late Tuesday it received an offer from Apollo Management L.P. expressing its interest buying the publicly traded company for $40 per share, which would top the $38 per-share, $1.7 billion offer by CEO James Crane and two investment group partners. (Click here for previous coverage.)Last year, Apollo bought the logistics arm of TNT NV for $1.9 billion, and subsequently renamed the unit Ceva Logistics. (Click here for previous coverage.)The company never granted other suitors “`meaningful access” to company information and reached its deal with Crane before the March 26 deadline for final bids, Apollo said in a letter to a committee of EGL directors overseeing the sale, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.EGL said Apollo’s offer was dated Monday and that it has “made arrangements so that Apollo may conduct its due diligence investigation with respect to its proposal.”In early January, Crane made an original offer $36 or $1.2 billion with a different investor group. (Click here for previous coverage.)