New York: The number of lawyers making hay from a controversial shipping merger continues to rise. Tripp Levy becomes the fourth law firm to take the proposed merger between Genco and Baltic to task. The two companies are controlled by Greek shipping entrepreneur, Peter Georgiopoulos.
Baltic Trading announced last Wednesday that it is being acquired by Genco Shipping & Trading in a stock-for-stock transaction. Baltic shareholders are to receive 0.216 shares of Genco common stock for each share of Baltic common stock they own. The proposed transaction is valued at only $1.69 per share.
“Our investigation has determined that the offer price of only $1.69 per share unfairly under-values the true going forward inherent value of Baltic and that shareholders are not receiving the maximum value for their shares,” Tripp Levy said in a release late on Friday. The law firm noted the book value per share of the company is $6.44 per share, an analyst has projected that the price of the stock is worth at least $4 per share, and the stock recently traded at $7.02 per share within the past year.
Tripp Levy’s investigation further seeks to determine whether the senior management of Baltic are entering into this deal for their own self-interests to the detriment of the company’s shareholders.
Georgiopoulos has yet to respond to the many law firms accusing him of underselling Baltic.
