<p><img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/murdock-david-headshot.jpg" alt="images 061213" />Since Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David Murdock revealed a $12-a-share buyout offer of about 60 percent of the shares he doesn’t already own, the company has been trading above his initial bid. According to Bloomberg, this is a sign traders expect a sweetened offer from Murdock. The shares were at $12.84 as of 1:00 pm EDT today. <strong>The trading indicates investors are wagering Murdock’s offer won’t be his last,</strong> said Keith Moore, a strategist at MKM Partners LLC.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Murdock had to raise his bid the first time he took Dole private 10 years ago. He eventually boosted his bid 14 percent, the report notes. Murdock then took the company public again in 2009 at $12.50 a share.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Investors may raise concerns about the fairness of the price for the $1.1 billion company, Barclays Plc said. BB&T Corp. and shareholder Adirondack Research & Management Inc. reported it could be valued at about $15 a share.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“It’s a good starting bid from Mr. Murdock,” Roy Behren, who holds Dole shares as part of the $4.7 billion Merger Fund he co-manages at Westchester Capital Management LLC in Valhalla, New York. “In our view, it’s a little bit light. They have valuable land. They have a nice franchise. They have a well-known name. It certainly has value.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Murdock “feels this is a fair bid,” Scott A. Griswold, his spokesman, said in a phone interview. “Right now, he’s not considering any changes. We’ll have to wait and see.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">This week, Murdock offered $12 per share, a premium of 18 percent over Dole’s Monday close of $10.19. The offer caused shares to spike more than 21 percent to $12.40, on announcement of the buyout offer.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“This has been timed in an opportunistic way for him to try to buy it back cheaply, but I don’t think that will work,” Moore said of Murdock’s bid in a phone interview. “He’s going to have to pay up for it.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Dole’s president and chief operating officer, C. Michael Carter, declined to comment beyond the company’s June 11 statement.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more updates on the Dole buyout offer.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-13/dole-holders-see-deja-vu-in-push-for-deal-bump-real-m-a.html " target="_new"> Dole </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
