An investor in shares of Volcom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VLCM) has filed a lawsuit in State Court in effort to stop the proposed buyout of Volcom by PPR under the current conditions.
According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties in connection the proposed takeover.

On Monday, May 2, 2011, PPR (FR 0000121485, PRTP.PA, PPFP) and Volcom, Inc. (NASDAQ: VLCM) announced that they have signed an merger agreement whereby a new wholly owned subsidiary of PPR will make a cash tender offer to acquire 100% of the shares of Volcom for a price of $24.50 share, for a total equity value of $607.5 million and an enterprise value of $516.1 million. Volcom, Inc said the offer represents a 37% premium over the three-month average trading price of Volcom shares.

Indeed, following the merger proposal shares of Volcom, Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:VLCM) rose from $19.71 on Friday to $24.45 per share on Monday, May 2, 2010.

However, the plaintiff alleges the offered price undervalues Volcom. In fact, Volcom, Inc. has performed well for its investors in the past. As recent as February 24, 2011, Volcom announced its financial results for the 2010 fourth quarter and full year wherein Volcom reported total consolidated revenues increased 22.4% for the fourth quarter of 2010 and full-year consolidated revenue grew 15.2%. Volcom also reported over the past four annual filing periods relatively consistent 12months Total Revenues ranging from $268.61million to $323.18million. Its Net Income ranged over the same time frame from $21.71million to $33.34million. Additionally at least one analyst has set a price target of $25.00 per share for Volcom stock.

Additionally the plaintiff alleges that the sale process is unfair to Volcom investors. In fact, Volcom, Inc also said that certain Volcom directors and officers, who collectively own 14.4% of the outstanding shares, have already agreed to tender all of their shares in the tender offer.