Finish Line Ordered to Finish
When it was announced, this deal had Fools wondering what retailer Finish Line (Nasdaq: FINL) was thinking. Yet the decision to merge with Genesco (NYSE: GCO) must be completed now that a judge has dismissed Finish Line's contention that the shoe retailer fraudulently hid its financial condition.
There has been a lot of buyer's remorse lately among companies that previously announced buyout deals. Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM) saw its buyout by a group of investors crumble under the credit crunch. Cerberus Capital Management reneged on its proposed deal with United Rentals (NYSE: URI). Home Depot (NYSE: HD) saw the sale of its supply unit founder until better terms could be reached. Backpedaling seems to be the new exercise fad.
In ruling that Finish Line must complete the purchase of Genesco, the judge in the case dismissed Finish Line's claims that Genesco withheld material financial information. She asserted that Finish Line and UBS (NYSE: UBS), the Swiss investment bank financing most of the deal, had "teams of lawyers, advisers and handlers being paid enormous sums to orchestrate the procedure for obtaining information" and were thus too sophisticated to claim they were duped.
Although investors in Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) have probably been snickering since it lost out in the Genesco derby, there's still hope left for Finish Line -- and UBS -- that it will be able to untangle itself from the mess. UBS has sued to halt the merger on the basis that the combined entity would go bankrupt and be unable to pay its debt obligations.
Unless UBS can do so, it remains a grudging race to the checkered flag.
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