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CLEVELAND — American Greetings Corp. has received a go-private offer from a group that is headed by its chief executive officer, Zev Weiss.
The greeting card maker said Wednesday that the proposal values the company at about $580 million.
The offer of $17.18 per share was also made by American Greetings president and chief operating officer Jeffrey Weiss, along with other members of the founding Weiss family and related parties.
The group, in a Sept. 25 letter to the board, said it expects to finance the deal with debt but had yet to secure binding commitments.
The company, whose brands include American Greetings, Carlton Cards and Gibson, said it will form a special committee of independent directors to consider the proposal.
"We believe that $17.18 per share is a compelling price and that American Greetings public shareholders will find this proposal attractive," stated the letter, which was signed by the Weiss family. "It also provides the public stockholders of the company with liquidity and certain value in a highly volatile period in the equity markets."
