Books-A-Million, one of Alabama’s 21 public companies, announced plans in late April to return to the ranks of private companies. Executive Chairman Clyde Anderson and his family, who own 53 percent of the stock, offered $3.05 a share for the balance, and on May 7 the board of directors formed a committee to consider the offer.
Stockholder Jeffrey Ye filed a suit against the board of directors in a Delaware court, claiming the $3.05 the board is considering is “dramatically below the underlying real value of the company, ” according to Bloomberg.
TradeLink Securities LLC, which owns about 1 percent of the company stock, also announced it considers the $3.05 offer too low. TradeLink said in a release it expects good results from Books-A-Million’s recent navigation of the technology-driven consolidations in the book store business, including the acquisition of selected Borders stores in 2011.
With more than 200 stores, Books-A-Million describes itself as the nation’s “second largest bricks and mortar book retailer, ” and the company has an online store, as well.
The company was founded in 1917 in Florence and now has its headquarters in Birmingham, with stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia.
By Nedra Bloom
