Liberty Tax receives USD 12/share buyout offer from Vintage Capital
06 MAY 2019
Liberty Tax [OTC PINK: TAXA], the Virginia Beach, Virginia-based provider of tax preparation services and the parent company of Liberty Tax Service, has received an unsolicited proposal from Vintage Capital Management for USD 12 per share in cash
The board of directors has formed an independent special committee to review the buyout firm's non-binding offer and other strategic alternatives.
In November the company announced that it had received an unsolicited and non-binding proposal from an unaffiliated private equity fund worth USD 13 per share.
At the time Vintage Capital owned a 14.8% stake and B. Riley Financial a 22.1% stake in TAXA, whose shares closed at USD 9.15 apiece on Friday 3 May for a market cap of USD 128.6m.
Press release:
Liberty Tax, Inc. (OTC PINK: TAXA) (“Liberty Tax” or the “Company”), the parent company of Liberty Tax Service, today announced that it has received an unsolicited and non-binding proposal from Vintage Capital Management, LLC (“Vintage”) to explore a recapitalization transaction, which would allow Liberty Tax stockholders, at their election, to receive USD 12.00 per share in cash for their shares in the Company.
In light of the receipt of the unsolicited proposal, the Board of Directors of Liberty Tax has formed an independent Special Committee of the Board of Directors to commence a careful and expeditious review of Vintage’s proposal and other strategic alternatives that may be available to the Company in consultation with its advisors.
As previously disclosed, in November 2018, the Company received an unsolicited and non-binding proposal from an unaffiliated private equity fund to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Liberty Tax. Upon receipt of this prior proposal, the Company commenced a review of its strategic alternatives and solicited additional proposals from potentially interested parties. Although the previously disclosed proposal has been withdrawn, throughout this process, the Company held discussions with several other interested parties in consultation with its legal and financial advisors, but none of such discussions resulted in an acceptable proposal. At this time, there are no other proposals being considered by the Company.
The Special Committee intends to undertake a prompt review and evaluation of the recapitalization proposal and other available alternatives with its financial and legal advisors to determine the course of action it believes to be in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders, but there can be no assurance that this process will lead to the approval or completion of any transaction. Liberty Tax does not intend to disclose developments regarding this process unless and until its Board of Directors approves a specific transaction or otherwise concludes its review of strategic alternatives. Liberty Tax will provide updated operating and financial information regarding the 2019 tax season as such information becomes available.
Link to statement