U.S. trucking companies Swift and Knight to merge

Swift Transportation Co said on Monday it would merge with trucking and logistics company Knight Transportation Inc, combining two of the biggest U.S. trucking operators.

The all-stock deal, with a combined enterprise value of $6 billion, will create the industry's largest full-truckload operator, the companies said.

The combined entity will be called Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. Swift shareholders would own 54 percent of the new entity and Knight shareholders the rest after the deal closes.

Under the deal, each Swift share will be converted into 0.72 shares of the new company through a reverse stock split. Each Knight share will be exchanged for one share of the new company.

The new company will trade under the ticker KNX after the closing of the deal, expected in the third quarter.

The deal values each Swift share at $22.07, a 10 percent premium to its closing price on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal. (Reporting by Rachit Vats and Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)