Lawsuit Overview
Aug. 21, 2012 (Shareholders Foundation) -- An investor in shares of AMERIGROUP Corporation (NYSE:AGP) filed a lawsuit against directors of AMERIGROUP Corporation in effort to block the proposed takeover by WellPoint, Inc to acquire AMERIGROUP Corporation at $92.00 per NYSE:AGP share.
The plaintiff alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties owed to NYSE:AGP investors arising out of the attempt to sell the company too cheaply and via an unfair process to WellPoint, Inc.
On July 9, 2012, Amerigroup Corporation (NYSE: AGP) and WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP)announced that they have entered into an agreement through which WellPoint will acquire Amerigroup. Under the terms of the proposed transaction, WellPoint will pay $92.00 per share in cash to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Amerigroup for a transaction value of approximately $4.9 billion.
However, the plaintiff claims that the $92.00per share offer is unfair to NYSE:AGP stockholders and undervalues the company. In fact, at least one analyst has set the high target price for NYSE:AGP shares at $95.00 per share. Furthermore, AMERIGROUP’s performance improved in recent years. In fact, AMERIGROUP Corporation (NYSE:AGP) reported that its annual Revenue rose from $4.36billion in 2008 to $6.3billion in 2011 and its Net Loss of $56.62million in ’08 turned into a Net Income of $195.62million in 2011. Shares of AMERIGROUP Corporation (NYSE:AGP) grew from as low as $18.10 per share in October 2008 to as high as $73.90 per share in July 2011.
Furthermore, the plaintiff also sued Amerigroup's adviser Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , alleging that Goldman Sachs had a hopelessly conflicted role. The plaintiff claims that Goldman put its own interest ahead of Amerigroup shareholder as it had a financial incentive to get a deal done quickly regardless of whether the deal is good.