Shareholders of Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc. (Matthews, N.C.) have filed a lawsuit to block the company’s planned acquisition by The Kroger Co. (Cincinnati).
According to the Cincinnati Business Courier, the New York law firm Levi & Korsinsky is representing Harris Teeter shareholder claims that Kroger’s proposed purchase price of $49.38 in cash isn’t high enough and doesn’t properly value the company.
The purchase price, agreed to by both food chains’ boards, is just 1.8 percent higher than Harris Teeter’s closing stock price the day before the deal was announced. But it’s 34 percent above Harris Teeter’s stock price in January, when news leaked that the board was considering a sale of the company.
The law firm wants the court to block the acquisition, which still requires regulatory and shareholder approval, or pay an unspecified amount to shareholders.