It appears the mail trucks between Manhattan Beach, CA and Dallas, TX are pretty full these days. As SEW reported last week, Skechers USA Inc. would like to be in discussions to acquire Heelys Inc. However, it seems Heelys has no interest. Tuesday afternoon, Heelys issued a response to Skechers proposal saying the $142.8 million cash offer is too low.
“After careful consideration, our Board rejected the offer after concluding that their proposal was not in the best interest of our stockholders,” Heelys chairman Gary Martin said in the statement. “The Board believes the $5.25 offering price does not reflect the value of Heelys and that entering into discussions with Skechers based on their unsolicited proposal is premature at this time.”
Shortly after the Heelys announcement, Skechers followed suit expressing disappointment that Heelys would not “agree even to discussions or provide us with an opportunity to conduct due diligence.”
“We do not believe that such a refusal is in the best interests of Heelys stockholders. We are very interested in continuing our dialogue and, as discussed in Skechers letter of August 13, we may also be prepared to refine our proposal if additional value can be identified during the due diligence. The companys interest remains genuine and along with our advisors, we will continue to explore all of our options,” stated Robert Greenberg, chairman and CEO of Skechers.
Originally, Skechers offered to acquire Heelys for $5.25 per share, or an aggregate cost of $142.8 million. Skechers bid of $5.25 per share followed an offer made on May 28, when Skechers proposed a purchase price of between $4.75 and $5.10 per share.
