Preserver Group Seeks to Acquire Publicly Held Shares in Privatization Move

The Board of Directors of New Jersey-based Preserver Group, Inc. announced plans to offer $7.75 per share for all of the Group’s publicly held common stock as part of a plan to privatize the company.

In a public statement it listed the following reasons for the initiative: “1) the Company’s capitalization is significantly smaller than its peers in the property casualty insurance industry; 2) the Company’s exposure to New Jersey private passenger automobile insurance; 3) the Company’s diversification efforts in the past three years have subsequently not been recognized and valued; and 4) the current concentration of ownership by the Executive Committee of the Company in combination with the small number of shares available has created an excessive discount to tangible book value. As a result, the shares rarely trade and when they do trade, have traded at a significant discount to the shares’ book value for an extended period of time, with no change in this circumstance appearing likely in the future.”

Approximately 1,101,017 shares of Preserver are owned by the public, and the offer is conditioned upon a minimum of 676,140 shares being tendered. A roughly equivalent number of shares are owned by members of the Board of Directors Executive Committee.

Shares in Preserver have traded between $4.35 and $9.875 over the last 52 weeks, and closed at $5.20 on December 14th when the last trade was executed.