As the dust has begun to settle after the bombshell announcement that News Corp (NWS) has agreed to purchase Move (MOVE), which operates Realtor.com for the National Association of Realtors, for $950 million in cash, several shareholders rights law firms are questioning whether Move could have gotten even more money for it shareholders in the deal.
Within hours of the deal's announcement, the law firms of Johnson & Weaver, Rigrodsky & Long, Powers Taylor, and Levi & Korsinsky all announced investigations into whether Move breached its fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders by accepting $21 per share in the sale to News Corp instead of a higher valuation.
As part of the acquisition agreement, shareholders of Move will receive $21 in cash for each share they own. The firms each suggest, based upon analyst predictions, that Move could have received at least $23 per share if it had “shopped” the company around more.
“The investigation concerns whether Move’s board of directors failed to adequately shop the Company and obtain the best possible value for Move’s shareholders before entering into an agreement with News Corp,” the firm of Rigrodsky & Long said in a release. “According to Yahoo! Finance, at least one analyst has issued a price target for Move at $23 per share.”
For Move’s part, the company said that the partnership will be beneficial for all parties involved.
"News Corp’s acquisition of Move speaks powerfully to the quality and value of our content, audience and industry relationships,” said Steve Berkowitz, chief executive officer of Move.
“We provide people with the information, tools and professional expertise they need to make the best and most informed real estate decisions, and we work to uphold the indispensable role of the professional in the real estate experience,” Berkowitz added. “News Corp shares our vision, which is one of the many reasons this combination is such good news for our customers, consumers and the industry as a whole.”
But the firms are all asking Move shareholders to contact them to determine the fairness of the proposed deal.
“The investigation centers on whether Move’s Board of Directors is acting in the shareholders’ best interests, whether the board considered alternatives to the acquisition, and whether the board has employed an adequate process to review and act on the proposed transaction,” Powers Taylor said in a release.
