I agree with Leo and Dave. Facts that would support this rumor would seldom leave the confines of the Boardroom, but the rumors of this acquisition often have their genesis near the coffee pot at a truck stop.
I've long held the unconfirmed belief that the investment firm of Fenway Partners, the owners of Panther Transportation, bought Panther for the purpose of resale at a profit. I think they would trim the overhead and/or bundle Panther with other transportation activity and offer the new and improved Panther to the most appropriate Corporation involved in, or interested in expedited freight.
FedEx is already heavily involved in expedite, so I can't imagine they would be interested. Dewey Huey and Louie, DHL, have a large expedite division; no interest there, either, I presumet. That leaves UPS as the only player with resources comparable to FDX and DHL, but no competative expedite division.
Meanwhile, nearly concurrent with the Fenway acquisition of Panther, and the later addition of Con-Way Now, UPS quietly purchased Menlo, an expedited freight carrier of about 100 trucks. UPS established a division called UPS Expedite, but they operate with a fleet of less than 100 trucks; some of which were the former Menlo leased vehicles. That's hardly a formidable fleet for the capabilities possessed by UPS. So, what's next.
In my very uneducated opinion, Menlo is but a trial balloon being used by UPS to test the viability of adventuring into the expedited freight industry. If the balloon flies, Panther and its 1500, or so, trucks would make a great package for the expedite element of the UPS stable of operating companies. I would guess that the beginning of the next fiscal year would be a good time to announce their ambition to narrow the gap between FedEx and UPS market share.