Viacom has asked its shareholders to buck an unsolicited "mini-tender" offer from Canadian investment firm TRC Capital.
"Viacom does not endorse TRC's unsolicited mini-tender offer and recommends that shareholders do not tender their shares," the struggling media company said in a release issued Wednesday.
TRC Capital is aiming to buy as much as 2.5 million Viacom Class B shares -- or 0.72 percent of the conglomerate's Class B shares -- for $38.88 a share, which is 5.6 percent below Wednesday's closing price.
According to Deadline Hollywood, the firm specializes in making lowball offers to unsophisticated investors, hoping to lure them into bad deals. "They count on investors jumping to the conclusion that the price offered includes the premium usually present in larger, traditional tender offers," the SEC told Deadline. Article