Investor offers $9.25 per share for AMR
03-30-2011, 09:18 AM
#2
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Joined APC: Sep 2010
Posts: 243
AMR up for sale?
News Headlines
Shares of American Airlines [AMR 6.83 0.25 (+3.8%) ] gained more than 3 percent after a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that a firm in Florida plans to buy AMR for $3.25 billion. According to the newspaper, AMR is skeptical of the offer.
AMR skeptical of little-known firm's offer to buy | Airlines and Aviation | Dallas Busin...
AMR skeptical of little-known firm's offer to buy
Posted Tuesday, Mar. 29, 20116 Comments Print Share Reprints
BY ANDREA AHLES
[email protected]
A little-known Florida firm offered to buy American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corp., for $3.25 billion Tuesday, but AMR is skeptical that the offer is genuine.
AMR said it received a letter from Sterling Global Holdings, which offered $9.25 a share for the Fort Worth-based company, a 48 percent premium over Tuesday's closing price of $6.58.
"AMR Corp. is investigating the matter, but at this time we have no corroborating information to demonstrate the offer described in the letter is legitimate," it said in a statement.
"Prior to receiving the letter, AMR had never heard of Sterling Holdings."
The company said it had not been able to confirm whether Sterling Global Holdings is a shareholder of AMR. A search of the Securities and Exchange Commission's database of filings also did not have any record of a firm named Sterling Global Holdings.
Al Weintraub, who sent the letter and is part of Sterling Global, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that he is an AMR shareholder and has bank financing to complete the deal.
He added that he has already talked to other AMR shareholders about taking the airline private.
"There is a lot of consolidation in the industry, and we have dealings with another carrier," Weintraub said. "The two would work beautifully together."
Weintraub would not identify the other airline, except to say it is privately held and in the U.S.
He also would not talk specifically about his firm and whether it had completed any other financing deals.
Last week, Sterling Global Holdings sent a similar letter to Eastman Kodak Co. offering to buy the Rochester, N.Y., company for about $1.3 billion, or $4.81 per share. After the offer was made public, Kodak's shares rose to $3.60 from about $3.25 before falling to $3.40 on Tuesday.
In an interview with the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Weintraub said his company buys distressed firms.
"I have been buying distressed companies for the past 15 years," Weintraub told the paper.
"Our dealings have been in the hotel and casino area as well as buying assets of large bankrupt companies such as GM and Chrysler," he said. "We have bought some of their dormant properties and land left in the bankrupt entities. Our company looks for companies that have turnaround potential."
Kodak has also said it had never heard of Sterling Global until it got a letter. Kodak confirmed that Sterling Global is not a shareholder.
Staff writer Scott Nishimura contributed to this report.
Andrea Ahles,
817-390-7631
Shares of American Airlines [AMR 6.83 0.25 (+3.8%) ] gained more than 3 percent after a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that a firm in Florida plans to buy AMR for $3.25 billion. According to the newspaper, AMR is skeptical of the offer.
AMR skeptical of little-known firm's offer to buy | Airlines and Aviation | Dallas Busin...
AMR skeptical of little-known firm's offer to buy
Posted Tuesday, Mar. 29, 20116 Comments Print Share Reprints
BY ANDREA AHLES
[email protected]
A little-known Florida firm offered to buy American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corp., for $3.25 billion Tuesday, but AMR is skeptical that the offer is genuine.
AMR said it received a letter from Sterling Global Holdings, which offered $9.25 a share for the Fort Worth-based company, a 48 percent premium over Tuesday's closing price of $6.58.
"AMR Corp. is investigating the matter, but at this time we have no corroborating information to demonstrate the offer described in the letter is legitimate," it said in a statement.
"Prior to receiving the letter, AMR had never heard of Sterling Holdings."
The company said it had not been able to confirm whether Sterling Global Holdings is a shareholder of AMR. A search of the Securities and Exchange Commission's database of filings also did not have any record of a firm named Sterling Global Holdings.
Al Weintraub, who sent the letter and is part of Sterling Global, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that he is an AMR shareholder and has bank financing to complete the deal.
He added that he has already talked to other AMR shareholders about taking the airline private.
"There is a lot of consolidation in the industry, and we have dealings with another carrier," Weintraub said. "The two would work beautifully together."
Weintraub would not identify the other airline, except to say it is privately held and in the U.S.
He also would not talk specifically about his firm and whether it had completed any other financing deals.
Last week, Sterling Global Holdings sent a similar letter to Eastman Kodak Co. offering to buy the Rochester, N.Y., company for about $1.3 billion, or $4.81 per share. After the offer was made public, Kodak's shares rose to $3.60 from about $3.25 before falling to $3.40 on Tuesday.
In an interview with the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Weintraub said his company buys distressed firms.
"I have been buying distressed companies for the past 15 years," Weintraub told the paper.
"Our dealings have been in the hotel and casino area as well as buying assets of large bankrupt companies such as GM and Chrysler," he said. "We have bought some of their dormant properties and land left in the bankrupt entities. Our company looks for companies that have turnaround potential."
Kodak has also said it had never heard of Sterling Global until it got a letter. Kodak confirmed that Sterling Global is not a shareholder.
Staff writer Scott Nishimura contributed to this report.
Andrea Ahles,
817-390-7631
03-30-2011, 10:43 AM
#8
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03-30-2011, 10:56 AM
#9
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03-30-2011, 10:57 AM
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Could be the same guy?
******AGENT ALERT******
REMINDER TO BEWARE OF UNLICENSED ENTITIES SELLING INSURANCE
The Department of Financial Services recently warned agents that it had received reports of an unlicensed entity, Global Insurance Group, Inc. (a Delaware corporation headquartered in Aventura, FL) aggressively advertising the lowest windstorm insurance rates in Florida. On August 1, 2005, the Office of Insurance Regulation issued an Immediate Final Order to Global. It, among other things, ordered Global to cease conducting unauthorized insurance business in Florida.
On August 25th, Division of Insurance Fraud detectives arrested Allen E. Weintraub in Miami. He was charged with 45 counts of grand theft, 45 counts of transacting insurance without a certificate of authority, and one count of organizing a scheme to defraud. Weintraub set up Global Insurance Group and Global Property & Casualty, Inc., used licensed agents to sell the potentially worthless insurance to at least 45 Florida homeowners and businesses, and collected more than $100,000 in premiums.
If you placed any clients with Global, you should obtain credible replacement coverage for those clients immediately.
As an insurance agent in Florida, you are one of the front lines of defense to protect Florida's consumers from unauthorized insurance companies. While unauthorized insurers may initially offer cheaper premium rates and higher commissions, they are not authorized to sell policies in Florida, have not been scrutinized for legitimacy, nor have they proven that they have adequate reserves to pay claims timely. If an unauthorized insurer does not pay a claim, the agent that sold it is liable to that insured for the amount of the unpaid claim (§626.901, F.S.). Additionally, agents may be fined, have their licenses suspended or revoked, and face criminal investigation. Aiding and abetting an unauthorized insurer is a 3rd degree felony.
Another unlicensed entity agents are reminded to avoid is International Water Safety Foundation, a Quebec, Canada firm. The company also does business as International Water Marine Safety Foundation, International Marine Safety Foundation, and North American Marine & General Insurance Company, LTD. In October 2003, the Office of Insurance Regulation ordered the entities to cease claiming to be an insurer, transacting new or renewal business, and collecting premiums in the state of Florida. The Department's monitoring of International Water Safety Foundation and related entities is ongoing, to detect any activity in violation of the Order.
Agents with any information about Global, Weintraub, International Water Safety Foundation, or any other unauthorized entity selling insurance in Florida should contact the Department at [email protected]. To check on the license status of a company at any time, you should visit Florida's Department of Financial Services and click on Verify Before You Buy, or call the Department of Financial Services' Helpline at 1-800-342-2762.
End of email.
******AGENT ALERT******
REMINDER TO BEWARE OF UNLICENSED ENTITIES SELLING INSURANCE
The Department of Financial Services recently warned agents that it had received reports of an unlicensed entity, Global Insurance Group, Inc. (a Delaware corporation headquartered in Aventura, FL) aggressively advertising the lowest windstorm insurance rates in Florida. On August 1, 2005, the Office of Insurance Regulation issued an Immediate Final Order to Global. It, among other things, ordered Global to cease conducting unauthorized insurance business in Florida.
On August 25th, Division of Insurance Fraud detectives arrested Allen E. Weintraub in Miami. He was charged with 45 counts of grand theft, 45 counts of transacting insurance without a certificate of authority, and one count of organizing a scheme to defraud. Weintraub set up Global Insurance Group and Global Property & Casualty, Inc., used licensed agents to sell the potentially worthless insurance to at least 45 Florida homeowners and businesses, and collected more than $100,000 in premiums.
If you placed any clients with Global, you should obtain credible replacement coverage for those clients immediately.
As an insurance agent in Florida, you are one of the front lines of defense to protect Florida's consumers from unauthorized insurance companies. While unauthorized insurers may initially offer cheaper premium rates and higher commissions, they are not authorized to sell policies in Florida, have not been scrutinized for legitimacy, nor have they proven that they have adequate reserves to pay claims timely. If an unauthorized insurer does not pay a claim, the agent that sold it is liable to that insured for the amount of the unpaid claim (§626.901, F.S.). Additionally, agents may be fined, have their licenses suspended or revoked, and face criminal investigation. Aiding and abetting an unauthorized insurer is a 3rd degree felony.
Another unlicensed entity agents are reminded to avoid is International Water Safety Foundation, a Quebec, Canada firm. The company also does business as International Water Marine Safety Foundation, International Marine Safety Foundation, and North American Marine & General Insurance Company, LTD. In October 2003, the Office of Insurance Regulation ordered the entities to cease claiming to be an insurer, transacting new or renewal business, and collecting premiums in the state of Florida. The Department's monitoring of International Water Safety Foundation and related entities is ongoing, to detect any activity in violation of the Order.
Agents with any information about Global, Weintraub, International Water Safety Foundation, or any other unauthorized entity selling insurance in Florida should contact the Department at [email protected]. To check on the license status of a company at any time, you should visit Florida's Department of Financial Services and click on Verify Before You Buy, or call the Department of Financial Services' Helpline at 1-800-342-2762.
End of email.
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