YRC Worldwide CEO James Welch and six others sell $1.6 million in stock

Seven executives at YRC Worldwide Inc., including chief executive James Welch, have sold $1.6 million worth of company shares this month.

The stock sales included about 11 percent of Welch’s holdings in the Overland Park-based trucking company. He sold 30,194 shares in November, worth $715,266.01 at the prices reported in routine filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Welch’s sales include 10,000 shares sold Tuesday and reported Wednesday. His remaining shares are worth about $5.4 million. He was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Six others sold 38,976 shares collectively at prices that valued their transactions at $892,482.77.

Shares in YRC are up more than 17 percent this year. The stock closed Wednesday at $23.06 a share.

Welch has led the freight hauling business since it emerged from a financial reorganization in mid-2011 that allowed the company to avoid bankruptcy. He had retired from the company in 2007.

Last winter, Welch led an effort to win new concessions and a contract extension from members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Welch told employees that all of their jobs, including his, were riding on the outcome of the vote.

Workers rejected an original offer from YRC but in January approved a similar offer negotiated with the Teamsters. The contract’s new terms and its extension into 2019 helped the company win refinancing from its lenders on debts it was unable to repay.

Separately, YRC Worldwide said its top legal officer, Michelle A. Friel, is resigning, though the company did not offer a reason for her departure.

Friel has held the posts of executive vice president, general counsel and secretary since February 2012.

She had returned to the company after a three-year absence, having been its vice president and assistant general counsel from 2003 to 2009. Friel worked at Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. from 2009 to 2012.

YRC’s notice of Friel’s resignation, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said she would leave the company by Jan. 2.

This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 11:26 AM with the headline "YRC Worldwide CEO James Welch and six others sell $1.6 million in stock."