DANBURY, US: Praxair has received notification of an unsolicited “mini-tender” offer by TRC Capital Corporation of Toronto to purchase shares of common stock of Praxair at $ 103.25, which was 4.5 per cent below Praxair’s NYSE closing price on April 26, 2011, the day prior to the offer.
Praxair is not associated with this offer and does not endorse the offer. Praxair recommends against shareowners tendering their shares in response to TRC Capital’s unsolicited mini-tender offer.
The company understands that TRC has made numerous unsolicited mini-tender offers in the past for stock of other companies at a discount to the market price. Mini-tender offers, such as this one by TRC, are offers to acquire less than 5 per cent of a company’s outstanding shares and therefore avoid many of the investor protections of the Federal Securities laws and rules of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC has issued “investor tips” on mini-tender offers, which note that often in making the offers at below-market prices, “bidders are hoping that they will catch investors off guard if the investors do not compare the offer price to the current market price.”
Praxair shareowners who have already tendered are advised that, as described in the TRC Capital’s offer to purchase document, they may withdraw their shares prior to the expiration of the offer.
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