British Firm Drops Bid for Four Winds Enterprises
Four Winds Enterprises Inc., a San Diego-based transportation company, announced that a British company has dropped its option to purchase Four Winds, the second such acquisition deal to fall through in the last nine months.
In a prepared statement, Four Winds Chairman Raymond W. Arendsee said United Kingdom-based NFC International Holdings Inc. decided that the proposed acquisition of Four Winds announced last April did not fit NFC’s “strategy” for its entry into the U.S. market. Terms of NFC’s proposed purchase were not announced.
Arendsee said Four Winds, a company he founded in 1957, will continue indefinitely as an independent entity.
Four Winds’ other abortive acquisition deal announced last September involved Meyer Group Inc. of New York, a customs brokerage and freight company. Four Winds officials offered no explanation for the demise of the Meyer deal.
Fast-growing Four Winds reached a revenue peak of about $166 million in sales in 1984, becoming a leading mover of military families and equipment. However, the company’s profits fell victim to trucking deregulation, sources close to the company said. Heavy losses in the last few years forced the company to trim operations and sell off about half its fleet of 500 trucks to raise cash.
About 25% of Four Winds’ peak employee total of 2,000 has been laid off since 1984, sources said.
