NEW YORK, May 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The proposed
acquisition of Ann, Inc. ("ANN" or the "Company") by Ascena Retail
Group, Inc. ("ASNA") is being investigated by WeissLaw LLP for
possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law by
the Board of Directors of ANN. On May
18, 2015, the Company agreed to sell itself for an implied
$47 per share, based on ASNA's
May 15, 2015 closing price of
$14.21, or approximately $2.1 billion, a 21% premium to ANN's Friday
closing price. Under the agreement, ANN shareholders will
receive $37.34 cash and 0.68 of an
ASNA share for each ANN share owned, owning only 16% of the
combined company after the merger.
WeissLaw is investigating whether ANN's Board acted to maximize
shareholder value prior to entering into the agreement.
Notably, prior to the announcement, at least one analyst set a
price target of $48 per share, or
$1.00 above the offer price.
Additionally, the Company would be adding 1,000 stores and more
than $2.5 billion in annual sales to
ASNA. Furthermore, ANN recently announced positive financial
results, reporting total net sales of $647.4
million in the fourth quarter of 2014, as compared to
$623.3 million in the same period of
the previous year, continuing its generation in recent years of
consistent sales growth, and has a very high 50+% gross profit
margin.
Given these facts, WeissLaw is investigating the Board's
decision to sell ANN and whether ANN shareholders will obtain their
fair and proportionate share of the Company's continued success and
future growth prospects. If you own ANN shares and would like
more information about your rights or our investigation, or if you
have information to share with us, please contact Joshua Rubin by telephone at (888) 593-4771 or
by email at stockinfo@weisslawllp.com.
WeissLaw LLP has litigated hundreds of stockholder class and
derivative actions for violations of corporate and fiduciary
duties. We have recovered over a billion dollars for
defrauded clients and obtained important corporate governance
relief in many of these cases. If you have information or
would like legal advice concerning possible corporate wrongdoing
(including insider trading, waste of corporate assets, accounting
fraud, or materially misleading information), consumer fraud
(including false advertising, defective products, or other
deceptive business practices), or anti-trust violations, please
email us at stockinfo@weisslawllp.com or fill out the form
on our website,
http://www.weisslawllp.com/contact/report_fraud/.
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SOURCE WeissLaw LLP