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The takeover fight for a casket maker has plowed some new ground.
The York Group Inc. rejected the latest buyout bid from persistent suitor Wilbert Inc. last week, then struck a more modest deal with another company.
Two days after shutting out Wilbert's bid to buy all of the casket manufacturer, Houston-based York announced an agreement to sell metal vault operations to Doric Products Inc. Hanging on to its core casket business, York sold its metal vault manufacturing division for an undisclosed price.
Meanwhile, after spurning an approximately $58 million cash buyout offer from Illinois-based Wilbert, York and its recently hired investment bankers are mulling their next move. One possibility: York could sell itself to a white knight.
As the plot thickens, don't count out privately held Wilbert. As the world's largest manufacturer of concrete burial vaults, the Chicagoarea parent of Wilbert Funeral Services might wage a proxy fight to gain control of York's board of directors.
In documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as recently as last week, 107-year-old Wilbert reveals a plan to contact York shareholders for support of Wilbert's slate of director nominees.
Wilbert Chairman and CEO Curtis Zamec sent York Group a letter that includes the Chicago company's intent to "solicit proxies" in connection with the election of...