Sale of Hanford company goes forward
Some investors see deal as way to lift stocks prices.
Posted at 08:36 PM on Wednesday, Mar. 17, 2010
By Tim Sheehan / The Fresno Bee
Hanford's Thresher Industries says it's moving forward with a proposed sale of the metal-casting company as investors express a mix of hope and skepticism over the deal.
Thresher CEO Tom Flessner declined to name the buyer Wednesday, but said the deal involves a group with which the company had discussions over its technology a year ago.
The company makes aluminum and alloy parts for customers in the lighting, automotive and other industries at its 18,000-square-foot plant west of Hanford.
Flessner said the sale price is 1 cent per share of outstanding stock, far higher than the stock prices between 2 one-hundredths and 6 one-hundredths of a penny per share -- $2 and $6 per 10,000 shares -- at which Thresher traded last week.
Over the past two days, the price has lurched upward. It closed Wednesday at two-tenths of a cent per share, or $20 for 10,000 shares, on a volume of nearly 3 billion shares traded during the day.
* Story Hanford company accepts offer to sell
The company reported receiving a letter of intent to buy on March 9, and directors voted late last week to accept the offer. Flessner said the board Tuesday approved efforts to finalize the sale "in an accelerated manner." Flessner said he hopes the deal will close by April 10.
On Internet stock message boards -- free-wheeling forums in which investors offer up opinions, theories and fears -- reactions to Thresher's news range from optimism about the rising price to fear that the supposed sale is a scam to drive the stock price up before insiders take profits and bail out.
Investor Doug Martin, a certified public accountant from North Carolina, said he's purchased more than 2 million shares of Thresher stock since the middle of last week, when Thresher announced it had received a letter of intent from a would-be buyer.
"I'm in the camp that this is legitimate until proven otherwise," Martin said. "If this was some kind of scam, it would damage the company forever, not only with customers, but whoever it tries to raise money from in the future."
Flessner said Thresher is cautious about identifying a buyer or releasing other information "because it's important to protect our company."
"There's a lot of smack talk out there and our phones are ringing off the hook," Flessner said Wednesday. "We can't say a lot yet because the attorneys are involved ... but the reason we put this out there is because it's a fact."
Plans call for the company to remain in Hanford, Flessner added, with the current management in place, after a sale.
The reporter can be reached at tsheehan@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6319.
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