Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. warned shareholders last week to reject an unsolicited offer from a private investment firm trying to purchase Caterpillar shares at below-market prices.
Late last month, TRC Capital Corp., based in Alberta, Canada, offered to purchase up to 1.75 million shares of the Peoria-based company.
The $58.25-per-share "mini-tender" offer made Dec. 26 was 4.4 percent below Caterpillar`s closing stock price that day.
"Caterpillar strongly recommends against stockholders tendering shares in response to this unsolicited offer," the company said in a statement Wednesday. "Caterpillar is not affiliated in any way with TRC Capital, the offer or the offer documentation."
The Securities and Exchange Commission has warned against mini-tenders, saying they are increasingly used to catch off-guard investors who mistakenly think they are being offered a premium for their stock.
The offer to buy less than 1 percent of Caterpillar stock is at least the 15th such bid by TRC Capital in the past year.
Caterpillar said TRC Capital makes offers to purchase less than 5 percent of a company`s outstanding shares to avoid SEC disclosure regulations.
Caterpillar shares fell 36 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $60.80 in pre-market trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.
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