American Greetings Buyout Price Raised

The price to take American Greetings 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.

The article American Greetings Buyout Price Raised originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Eric Volkman has no position in American Greetings. The Motley Fool owns shares of American Greetings. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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