Persistence, Premium Sealed FedEx-AF Deal
FedEx Corp. (FDX) Chairman Frederick W. Smith is a persistent suitor. It took him more than two years of courting the Garrison family to convince them to sell him American Freightways (AFWY), the company they founded in 1982.
In an interview with Transport Topics, Garrison talked about the events that led up to the Nov. 13 announcement of the deal that will give FedEx the means to create a “super-regional” LTL service in 48 of the 50 states, linking FedEx subsidiary Viking Freight’s West Coast business with the eastern-oriented American Freightways.
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When completed, the result of Smith’s efforts, FedEx’s $1.2 billion acquisition of AF, will make FedEx the third largest regional less-than-truckload carrier in the nation, behind Con-Way Transportation Services and USFreightways Corp. (USFC) (11-20, p. 1). The merger was announced Nov. 13.
Tom Garrison, the son of AF founder and Chairman Sheridan Garrison, is chief executive officer of American Freightways. He will stay on in that post after the merger is completed in the first quarter of 2001.
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