SAN DIEGO, May 4, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. announces that a lawsuit has been filed in Texas State Court on behalf of current investors in Continental Airlines, Inc. (NYSE:CAL), who purchased their CAL shares before April 30, 2010, over alleged breach of their fiduciary duties by members of the Continental board of directors and others.
On Monday, May 03, 2010 Continental (NYSE:CAL) and United (Nasdaq:UAUA) announced that the boards of Continental Airlines Inc. and United Airlines parent UAL Corp. have unanimously approved a merger agreement under which UAL Corp. will acquire all outstanding shares of Continental Airlines, Inc in an all stock deal at an exchange ratio of 1.05 UAL shares for each Continental (CAL) share. Based on UAL Corp's stock (UAUA) price of $21.83 on during the last trading day, and Continental Airline having 139.6 million outstanding shares, United Corp would pay approximately $3.2 billion for Continental Airlines, Inc.
Shares of Continental Airlines, Inc. (CAL) increased on Friday, April 30, 2010, in response to the merger rumors to over $23.30 per share and then dropped after the announcement to $20.82 per share. Even though CAL shares were down during 2009 to $7.24 per share in March, CAL stock reached a 52weekHigh of $24.29 per share, over $30 per share in 2008, and almost $50 per share in 2007.
According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges, among other things, that the acquisition is the result of a hurried and unfair process that lasted a mere two weeks, and offers an unfair price. It will also affect thousands of Houston jobs as UAL upon completion will move the Headquarter to Chicago. The board of directors of Continental is saddled with significant conflict of interest and breached their fiduciary duty in pursuing an unlawful merger plan in which they failed to take steps to maximize the value of Continental to its public shareholders, they took steps to avoid competitive bidding, and failed to solicit other potential acquirors or alternative transactions, so the lawsuit.
Those who currently are investors in shares of Continental Airlines, Inc. (NYSE:CAL) and purchased their shares before April 30, 2010, should contact the Shareholders Foundation, Inc. by e-mail at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1 (858) 779-1554.
The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is an investor advocacy group which does research related to shareholder issues and informs investors of securities class actions, settlements, judgments, and other legal related news to the stock/financial market. The group offers help, support, and assistance for every shareholder, and investors find answers to their questions and equitable solutions to their problems. The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is not a law firm. The information is provided as a public service. It is not intended as legal advice and should not be relied upon.
The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6931