Tripp Levy: Baltic Trading Undervalued

Shareholders of the dry bulk shipping company Baltic Trading Ltd. are not receiving the maximum value for their shares through a merger agreement with Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd., according to a national securities and shareholder rights law firm Tripp Levy PLLC.

Tripp Levy, is investigating the last week’s stock-for-stock acquisition agreement on behalf of Baltic’s shareholders, who are to receive 0.216 shares of Genco common stock for each share of Baltic common stock they own. The proposed transaction is valued at USD 1.69 per share.

The law firm says that the offer price of only USD 1.69 per share unfairly undervalues the true going forward inherent value of Baltic.

”The book value per share of the Company is USD 6.44 per share, an analyst has projected that the price of the stock is worth at least USD 4 per share, and the stock recently traded at USD 7.02 per share within the past year,”  Tripp Levy says in a release.

”The investigation further seeks to determine whether the senior management of Baltic are entering into this deal for their own self-interests to the detriment of the Company’s shareholders. Indeed, Baltic is currently controlled by Genco and the boards of directors of both companies are headed by the same individual.”

The Pennsylvania-based law office of Brodsky & Smith is also investigating the merger for possible breaches of fiduciary duty on the part of the Board of Baltic, as well as other violations of state law.