Moyes makes move for Swift

Moyes makes move for Swift    Jerry Moyes has made an all-cash offer to buy Swift Transportation, and take private the major truckload carrier he once captained.
   Swift said it received a written offer from Moyes, its largest shareholder, to buy all the outstanding common stock for $29 per share. Moyes controls 26 percent of the motor carrier. He said that the offer is good until Nov. 20 and that he will receive financing for the deal from Morgan Stanley.
   Moyes’ offer represents a 21 percent premium over the stock’s Nov. 2 closing price, and Moyes did not rule out sweetening the offer after reviewing the company’s financial records.
   Last July, Swift said it was concerned that Moyes would try to seize majority control of the company without paying a sufficient premium. Swift’s share price swelled 24 percent to $29.78 after the offer was disclosed.
   “I believe such a transaction would be in the best interests of Swift and its stockholders, and that Swift’s stockholders will find such a transaction compelling,” Moyes said in a letter to Swift posted on the company’s Web site.
   Moyes stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer of Swift in October 2005 after paying $1.25 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle insider trading allegations.
   He founded the company along with his brother in 1966. Together they own about 40 percent of Swift. Bloomberg said the offer values Swift at $2.17 billion and that Moyes will have to come up with $1.34 billion to buy the stock he and his brother don’t already own.