FedEx Files Suit against Firm UPS Intends to Buy
FedEx Corp. is suing a company that United Parcel Service intends to buy and
accuses the firm of giving trade secrets to FedEx’s larger rival.
FedEx claims that Fritz Companies Inc., a San Francisco logistics and heavy
freight firm, gave UPS confidential information about FedEx during
negotiations that ultimately led to UPS agreeing to buy Fritz for $450 million
in stock.
FedEx was a major Fritz customer when the UPS deal was announced Jan. 11.
UPS officials said Monday they expect the acquisition to take place as
scheduled despite the FedEx suit. Memphis-based FedEx filed a complaint on
Feb. 5 in a Tennessee state court.
“Our plan is to proceed toward a closing in the second quarter of this year,”
Norman Black, a UPS spokesman, said Monday. “Our attorneys are aware of the
court action and are reviewing the matter. But it’s really between FedEx and
Fritz and doesn’t involve UPS.”
FedEx officials said they were negotiating to buy parts of Fritz when UPS
decided to buy the entire company.
“We were already in discussions with Fritz to acquire some of their
operations,” said Greg Rossiter, a FedEx spokesman. “And as a customer, we had
an agreement that data on our operations would be held in confidence.”
Fritz is a 67-year-old company with 10,000 employees, $619 million in net 2000
revenue and operations in 120 countries. Its customs brokerage business
accounted for 30 percent of sales last year, and FedEx was its largest
brokerage customer.
