The price to take American Greetings (AM.DL2) private is increasing. The Weiss family, key shareholders and top managers of the company, have lifted their bid to $19.00 from the former $18.20.
The Weisses -- which include company Chairman Morry, CEO Zev, and COO Jeffrey -- plus "related persons and entities" have been attempting to buy out fellow shareholders since last September. The previous $18.20 bid was met with resistance by shareholder TowerView, an investment fund that owns slightly over 6% of the company. TowerView said it would vote against a buyout at that price.
In the press release announcing the sweetened bid, American Greetings pointed out that the $19.00 price tag is 32.5% higher than the stock's value when the group made its first bid last September. It also took pains to mention that it is 4.4% above the Weisses' former $18.20 bid.
At the moment, American Greetings trades at $18.96 per share. It has nearly 32 million shares outstanding.