TORONTO  – Canadian Trucking and logistics behemoth TransForce is rumored to be making a major play for Dynamex Inc. a move that would expand its same-day delivery footprint in the U.S. while at the same time remove a competitor from the market.

Dynamex, a major U.S. provider of same-day and logistics services with as much as 40 percent of its revenue in Canada, announced this week that an undisclosed party offered $23.50 per share to acquire the company, trumping a bid of $21.25 from private equity firm Greenbriar Equity Group.

Today, RBC transportation analyst David F. Newman and others speculated that the mystery bidder is TransForce, which in recent years has been focused on expanding its M&A opportunities, especially in package & courier segment.

"Based on various assumptions and no synergies, we estimate the deal could be accretive to 2011 EPS by up to $0.05 per share," Newman told investors in a communiqué.

TransForce, which operates Canpar and a handful of other smaller courier fleets in Canada, would remove some pricing pressure by acquiring Dynamex, which reportedly has been reducing rates to expand its marketshare.

On Tuesday Dynamex’s board of directors determined that the new proposal constitutes a “superior proposal” and that a failure to enter into the agreement would violate the directors’ fiduciary duties to the company’s stockholders.

Dynamex said the company’s board consulted with its financial adviser and outside legal counsel in making this determination.
Dynamex said it is required to negotiate in good faith with Greenbriar for a period of four more business days, however.

TransForce is also rumored to be interested in acquiring the pharmaceutical hauling and health services side of ATS. TransForce bought ATS’ retail services fleet last year.