The bidding war between Michael Eisner's Torante and Upper Deck over Topps Company Inc (NASDAQ: TOPP) has come to an end (for the moment, anyway) but all is not peaceful in baseball-card-land. One of Topps' major shareholders, Mario Gabelli of Gamco Investors, Inc., announced yesterday his support for Torante's $9.75 per share, $385 million offer for the company, which the Topps board voted to accept before Upper Deck ramped up its offer.Gabelli's support runs counter to the opposition of hedge funds Crescendo Partners and Pembridge Capital Management. Gabelli holds around a 7% share of the company, while Crescendo's is slightly smaller. But, unlike Gabelli, Pembridge and Crescendo hold board positions.
Three proxy firms have recommended nixing the deal, and Wedbush Morgan estimated in June that the appropriate value of the stock purchase should be in the $11.50- 12.00 range, points that are sure to impact today's shareholder vote on the Torante bid. I'm guessing we haven't heard the last of this controversy.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-19-2007 @ 12:08PM
Tim said...
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9-19-2007 @ 10:25PM
Harold said...
What is the matter with Topps? Upper Deck would be the best choice of the two to continue the sports cards business and make it profitable again. UD has always been a superior card than Topps, and it is just "sour grapes" by Topps stonewalling the deal. Stop the child's play and get on with business!