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Heads up
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 17, 2003
With stock prices still in the cellar, a growing number of publicly traded companies are thinking of going private.
Some want to escape expenses such as shareholder meetings and annual reports. Others want to duck the constant performance pressure from angry investors or the risk of displeasing government agencies charged with enforcing tough new corporate behavior laws.
David Robbins, a partner at the Foley & Lardner law firm in Tampa, says he is advising two companies that are considering going private, including one in the Tampa Bay area. But Robbins says going private can be tricky.
A CEO who's part of the acquiring group needs the skills of a Cirque du Soleil acrobat to balance his own interests against his legal duty to protect the interests of shareholders.
And Maxxim Medical's move to file for bankruptcy reorganization last week may make some local companies think twice.
What drove the Clearwater maker of medical products to file was the debt it took on to go private. A group of company managers took over the company three years ago in an $800-million deal, but Maxxim can't meet the debt payments.