Posted By:
bruce DorskindTOPPS SETS BID TERMS
Bloomberg
June 12, 2007 -- Topps Co., the baseball trading-card maker, may consider a $416 million buyout by rival Upper Deck Co. if Upper Deck can guarantee financing and overcome antitrust issues, a Topps lawyer said.
Topps said in March it would be sold to a group including former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner for $9.75 a share, or $384.5 million. Last month, Upper Deck offered $416 million, or $10.75 a share.
"We're concerned about their ability to close this transaction," Topps lawyer Brian O'Connor said yesterday at a Delaware Chancery Court hearing in Wilmington.
If Upper Deck can get financing and avoid antitrust barriers, "the board is more than prepared to deal with them," O'Connor told Judge Leo Strine Jr.