TAKE A LOOK AT WHICH REPORT YOUR PORTFOLIO'S BEEN MISSING...

Shareholders Foundation offers real-time reporting of class action exposure on a per transaction basis,
including the documents you will need for claim filing and settlement recovery.
Start Monitoring Your Investments

Venoco, Inc. Investor Files Lawsuit To Block CEO’s Buyout Bid

  • If you purchased shares of Venoco, Inc. (NYSE: VQ) prior to the announcement and currently hold those shares, you have certain options and you should contact the Shareholders Foundation, Inc.

  • To have your information reviewed for options and to receive notifications about this case, please send an email to mail@shareholdersfoundation.com, or call us at (858) 779-1554.

Lawsuit Overview

Company
Venoco, Inc.
Security
NYSE: VQ

Case Name
Venoco Deal Case 09/02/2011
Type of Lawsuit
Mergers and Acquisition
You must register or login to receive notifications.

Click here to subscribe to Venoco, Inc..
Summary

San Diego, Sept. 2, 2011 (Shareholders Foundation) -- An investor in Venoco, Inc. (NYSE: VQ) shares filed a lawsuit in effort to block the offer by Timothy Marquez, Chairman and CEO of Venoco to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of Venoco stock and take Venoco private.
According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges that the offer to acquire Venoco, Inc at $12.50 per share is unfair to shareholders and undervalues the oil and gas producer.

On Monday, August 29, 2011, Venoco, Inc. (NYSE: VQ) announced that its board of directors has received a non-binding proposal from Timothy M. Marquez, Chairman and CEO of the company and the holder of approximately 50.3% of Venoco's outstanding common stock, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Venoco common stock for $12.50 per share in cash. Following the takeover proposal shares of Venoco, Inc. (Public, NYSE:VQ) jumped from $8.98 on Friday, August 26, 2011 to $12.08 on Monday.

However, the plaintiff claims that the $12.50 offer is unfair to VQ stockholders. Indeed, NSE: VQ shares traded as high as $14.75 as recently as July 22, 2011 and as high as $18.59 on April 29, 2011 and as high as $22.22 on February 2, 2011, thus well above the $12.50 offer. Additionally at least one analyst has set the high target price at $22 per share and a low target price at $14 per share. With a median Target price of $19.50 set by analysts the $12.50offer is indeed well below the lowest target price. In fact one analyst said after the takeover proposal that the $12.50 offer represents a significant discount to the value of Venoco’s assets

Furthermore, the plaintiff alleges that “Marquez strategically timed the proposed transaction during a period of economic turmoil in which the terms of the proposed transaction could be superficially viewed in a positive light”. However, in face Venoco’s financial performance has been increasing over the past two years. Venoco’s annual Total Revenue rose from 4270.49million in 2009 to $295.29million in 2010 and it was able to pull out of a Net Loss of $47.30million for 09 and report a Net Income of $67.52million for 2010. Its second quarter Revenue rose from $70.06million last year to $87.29million this year and its second quarter Net Income increased from $3.71million a year earlier to $19.02million.