EGL is a buyout bid magnet

Posted May 15th 2007 10:45AM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Private Equity

EGL (NASDAQ: EAGL) is not in a sexy business; that is, the company is a freight forwarder and logistics specialist. Boring, huh?

Not to Apollo Management. The firm is determined to buy the company and has made a third bid for its shares. The latest is for $46 and that translates into a valuation of about $1.89 billion.

The problem has been that EGL's CEO – Jim Crane -- has also been trying to buy the company. His latest bid was for $45 per share.

But try not to feel too sorry for him. He and his investors get a $30 million termination fee if the deal falls through. Oh, and he also owns 18% of the company.

On the news of the Apollo bid, the stock price of EGL climbed $3.08 to $45.79 per share. The low spread between the market price and the offer indicate that there may be an even higher bid in the offing.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Tags: Apollo Management, ApolloManagement, EGL