In Brief : $1 Billion Bid for U-Haul Parent Firm

PHOENIX — Dissidents within Amerco Inc., the holding company which operates the U-Haul rental network, have negotiated the proposed sale of the company to an unidentified buyer for about $1 billion, the founder has confirmed.

Leonard S. Shoen, 71, who organized U-Haul in 1945 in a Seattle suburb and moved the headquarters here in 1968, declined to identify the buyer and said he was speaking up because he feels that current management has undervalued stock in soliciting for more shares.

Amerco is a Nevada-chartered company based in Las Vegas.

Amerco Chairman E. J. (Joe) Shoen, the third of Leonard Shoen’s 12 children, could not be reached for comment, but Amerco’s general counsel, Gary V. Klinefelter, said today that the board of directors has not been told of any purchase offer.