In early January, EGL Inc. (NASDAQ:EAGL) announced it was going private in a $1.65 billion transaction. The company is a major air shipper, focused on heavy cargo.
The company's founder and CEO, James Crane, was going to roll-in his 18% equity stake and even invest more in the buyout transaction. All in all, it was a good sign.
Well, this week, the private equity investor in the deal, General Atlantic LLC, bailed out. The reason? The firm was disappointed with EGL's fourth-quarter numbers.
On the news, the stock price plunged 18%.
But Crane is not giving up. He is searching for other backers.
No doubt, there is a large number of private equity firms looking for deals. However, they will certainly be skeptical. After all, it's not often something like this happens.
As a result, however, trying to get a purchase price back at $36 may be difficult.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.
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