Buyout aimed at Interpool

Martin Tuchman, chairman & CEO of intermodal chassis and container leasing firm Interpool, is attempting to buy out the company along with other Interpool stockholders and an investment fund affiliated with Fortis Merchant Banking, a division of European banking and insurance firm Fortis.

Tuchman and his backers are offering $24 per share in cash for those shares of Princeton, NJ-based Interpool they don’t already control— some 10.8 million of Interpool’s total of 29.3 million shares.

The company’s board said it has formed a special committee to review the offer, engaging independent legal counsel along with independent financial advisors.