ADA, Okla., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pre-Paid Legal
Services, Inc. (NYSE: PPD) announced today that it is evaluating
strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the Company
and alternatives that do not involve a sale, to enhance shareholder
value. The Board of Directors has established a special committee
comprised of independent directors to lead the process. As part of
the process, the special committee has been evaluating an offer
received by the Company from a well-known private equity firm to
acquire all of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock
in a merger at a price of $60.00 cash
per share. Among other terms, the proposal allows for the offeror
to pay a to-be-determined amount to the Company as the offeror's
sole recourse in the event that it is not able to obtain financing
to complete the transaction. Counsel for the offeror has notified
the Company that in the event of a public disclosure by the Company
or its advisors of the offeror's proposal, the proposal will be
deemed withdrawn.
The special committee has not set a definitive timetable for
completion of its evaluation of strategic alternatives and there
can be no assurances that the process will result in any
transaction being announced or completed. The Company does not
intend to disclose any developments regarding the process unless
and until the special committee has approved a specific course of
action.
The special committee has retained Berenson & Company, LLC
to act as its financial advisor and Mayer Brown LLP to act as its
legal advisor.
About Us - We believe our products are one of a kind, life
events legal service plans. Our plans provide for legal service
benefits provided through a network of independent law firms across
the U.S. and Canada, and include
unlimited attorney consultation, will preparation, traffic
violation defense, automobile-related criminal charges defense,
letter writing, document preparation and review and a general trial
defense benefit. We have an identity theft restoration product we
think is also one of a kind due to the combination of our identity
theft restoration partner and our provider law firms. More
information about our products and us can be found at our homepage
at www.prepaidlegal.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release, other than purely historical
information, regarding our future plans and objectives and expected
operating results, dividends and share repurchases and statements
of the assumptions underlying such statements, constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements
contained herein are based on certain assumptions that may not be
correct. They are subject to risks and uncertainties incident to
our business that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks
and uncertainties are described in the reports and statements filed
by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including (among
others) those listed in our Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, and
include the risks that our membership persistency or renewal rates
may decline, that we may not be able to continue to grow our
memberships and earnings, that we are dependent on the continued
active participation of our founder and Chairman, that pending or
future litigation may have a material adverse effect on us if
resolved unfavorably to us, that we may have compromises of our
information security, that during an economic downturn in the
economy consumer purchases of discretionary items may be affected
which could materially harm our sales, retention rates,
profitability and financial condition, that we could be adversely
affected by regulatory developments, that competition could
adversely affect us, that we are substantially dependent on our
marketing force, that our stock price may be affected by short
sellers, that we have been unable to increase our employee group
membership sales, that our active premium in force is not
indicative of future revenue as a result of changes in active
memberships from cancellations and additional membership sales and
that we have repurchased more than half our outstanding shares over
the past years. Please refer to pages 16 - 19 of our 2009 Form 10-K
and pages 7 and 8 of our June 30,
2010 Form 10-Q for a more complete description of these
risks. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking
statements in this release.
SOURCE Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
Copyright . 25 PR Newswire