TFI International's flirtation with becoming a U.S.-based trucking company lasted only a few days as the company this week walked back its plan to move from Montreal to an undetermined U.S. city, citing shareholder backlash.
"TFI International will remain a Canadian corporation and will not pursue its previously-announced intention to re-domicile from Canada to the United States," the company said via statement Monday.
TFI Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Alain Bédard said Thursday the company's planned move across the border represented an "evolution of TFI" – an evolution that now ends before it started.
Bédard sought to move operations to the U.S. in part due to how much the U.S. market makes up of the Canadian company, and called the U.S. "the best place in the world to be in terms of business."
Approximately 70% of TFI’s business is currently U.S. domestic with 25% Canadian and the balance being transborder. Almost half of the company's shareholders are in the U.S.
The imbalance of domestic shareholders is particularly noteworthy as TFI, which has traded on the New York Stock Exchange since February 2020, is on the brink of crossing 50% U.S.-based ownership, which triggers more challenging financial reporting for publicly-traded foreign owned companies.
"Five years ago, we had no U.S. shareholders," Bédard said in a phone call with financial analysts last week. "Today, just under 50% – 49.9% – of shareholders as the summer of 2024, were U.S., and 45% were Canadian."
