# More Intersting News...



## thelawnguy (May 20, 2001)

DaimlerChrysler's Freightliner LLC Offers to Acquire 100 Percent Of Western
Star Trucks Holdings' Outstanding Stock

PORTLAND, Ore., July 19 -- DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) and
Western Star Trucks Holdings (Amex: WSH) announced today that their respective
boards approved a definitive agreement for DaimlerChrysler's subsidiary
Freightliner LLC, the leading heavy-truck manufacturer in North America, to
acquire 100 percent of the outstanding stock of Western Star Trucks Holdings,
a Canadian-based manufacturer of premium trucks and buses. In an agreement
reached with Western Star, Freightliner will offer to purchase the outstanding
shares at C$42 per share, for an approximate purchase price of C$670 million.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000719/DEW021 )
The move further strengthens DaimlerChrysler's position in the commercial
vehicle industry by broadening the company's truck product lines and dealer
organization, and completing the company's commercial bus product line in the
NAFTA region.
"The combination of Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star creates a
powerhouse commercial vehicle company in North America and a tremendous
platform for growth," Dr. Dieter Zetsche, head of DaimlerChrysler Commercial
Vehicles Division, said. "The proposed acquisition continues
DaimlerChrysler's strategy for growing its worldwide leadership in the heavy-
duty truck industry, complements our Freightliner and Sterling lines of
trucks, and makes DaimlerChrysler's line of bus product offerings, including
Thomas Built Buses and Setra, the broadest and most complete in North
America."
The proposed acquisition of Western Star complements Freightliner's
extensive array of truck products by adding a Class 8 truck line with an
established owner-operator customer base and product models with proven
vocational capabilities. Western Star's premium, heavy-duty trucks are ideal
for logging, mining, oil field services, and other severe-service, high gross-
weight applications. In addition, its custom-built, over-the-highway trucks
have been highly regarded by the independent owner-operator sector.
"The acquisition of Western Star is a perfect continuation and completion
of a series of initiatives to further serve North American commercial vehicle
customers," Zetsche said. "The combined forces of Western Star and
Freightliner are a significant step in our goal to expand our vocational truck
and bus product offerings for North America."
"Western Star has a reputation and tradition as a highly customized,
extremely rugged and stylish premium truck. We look forward to continuing the
great traditions of the Western Star brand," Freightliner President Jim ****
said. The Western Star brand name and truck line will continue in the market,
while Western Star's support operations will be integrated with Freightliner's
vocational truck division Sterling Trucks. The two product lines fulfill
Freightliner's strategy to offer a full truck line to owner-operators as well
as expand the company's vocational truck offerings.
According to Terry Peabody, chairman of Western Star Trucks Holdings, "We
see this as a tremendous opportunity for our employees and customers to be
associated with a company as innovative and customer-focused as Freightliner."
Through the purchase, Freightliner gains Orion Bus Industries, one of
North America's leading heavy-duty transit bus manufacturers. With the
addition of Orion to Freightliner's current bus products, DaimlerChrysler
becomes North America's sole complete bus product line manufacturer.
Orion's bus line will join Freightliner's family of bus products,
including Thomas' successful school bus products, the new Thomas SLF 200 --
the result of a joint venture between Freightliner and U.K.-based Mayflower
Corporation, a new cutaway shuttle bus line acquired from Metrotrans, and the
successful Setra coach, a DaimlerChrysler product line. Orion will operate as
part of Freightliner's Specialized Vehicles unit.
"In only two years since our acquisition of Thomas Built Buses, we will
have developed the most complete bus line in North America, fulfilling our
strategic objective. Each of our bus brands is the recognized leader in the
segment," said ****.
In addition to expanding Freightliner's bus strategy, the proposed
acquisition strengthens Freightliner's Sterling distribution network.
Sterling and Western Star will be offered across a selective and optimally
combined dealer network throughout North America. Western Star and Sterling's
extensive network of dealers in the United States and Canada will expand the
distribution and service capabilities of both Western Star and Sterling
products.
In addition, Freightliner will benefit from cost savings based on
synergies and economies of scale achieved through increased purchasing volume,
manufacturing efficiencies and administrative savings.
"The Sterling product line has been tremendously successful, surpassing
our expectations and forecasts," **** added. "Now, we will be able to
continue this rapid rate of growth with increased production and distribution
capacity through the Western Star acquisition."
As part of the proposed acquisition, Freightliner gains a new 460,000-
square-foot truck manufacturing plant opened in March in North Charleston,
S.C., with the capacity to produce up to 20,000 units per year. The proposed
acquisition also includes Western Star's headquarters and truck plant in
Kelowna, BC, and bus manufacturing sites in Mississauga, Ontario and Oriskany,
NY. Western Star sold nearly 7,200 trucks and 800 buses in 1999, with
revenues of C$1.3 billion.
In addition to Freightliner acquiring Western Star Trucks Holdings,
Western Star Australia Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Western Star
Trucks, will be sold to a corporation associated with Western Star's current
chairman Terry Peabody, for approximately C$39 million. Also included in the
purchase will be the distribution rights in Australia, New Zealand and the
Asia-Pacific region. MAN-Australia, acquired by Western Star Australia in
March, will operate under the direction of the new Australian corporation.
Under the terms of the agreement, Western Star Trucks Holdings will
convene a meeting of their Shareholders on a date to be announced to vote upon
the proposed Plan of Arrangement. The proposed acquisition remains subject to
approval by the governmental authorities of Canada, the U.S., and Australia.
The transaction should be completed in the Fall of 2000.
Sterling Truck Corporation, based in Willoughby, Ohio, was formed by
Freightliner following Freightliner's 1997 purchase of Ford Motor Company's
heavy truck business. Since production began in mid-1998, Sterling has gained
more than six percent of U.S. heavy-duty truck sales and, with a newly-
introduced medium-duty product, is rapidly growing its presence in the Class
5-7 segment. Sterling's large customer base focuses on vocational
applications such as construction, refuse collection, urban services, and in
regional highway haulage.


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## plowking35 (Dec 21, 1999)

How long before Uncle Sam busta up this monopoly.
Can you say anti trust suit?
I knew you could.


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## thelawnguy (May 20, 2001)

I knew there was a good reason that, after the Chrysler-Mercedes merger, they dumped the US headquarters and instead based operations in Germany.

Bill


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