Heartless buys out Smith Transport

Heartland is a debt free operation, won’t be happening anytime soon.

 

A (very) quick perusal of their annual report shows $100 million in long term liabilities, most of which is deferred income tax.

They're also not paying it of pocket for the acquisition. Raising capital thru stock issuance is a form of debt. The more shares there are, the more the share price is impacted by market shifts. It's not debt debt, but over expansion can kill any company, regardless of it's debt level.

 

This.
Quite a few companies got too big too soon for their own good, and paid the price for it. And at the rate they’re buying up companies, that could come back to bite them at some point.

 

Smith was built hauling appleton papers , when appvion bought appleton it has been a down hill slide.

 

Companies that tend to put too many eggs I n one basket, tend to learn tough lessons. Just ask Falcon a few years ago, their bread and butter was hauling in and out of that car plant in Lordstown, Ohio.