United Online Rejects Buyout

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United Online Inc. on Wednesday said it has rejected a buyout offer from Los Angeles investment bank B. Riley Capital Management but said it will review the possibility of selling off assets or even the entire company.

Earlier this month, B. Riley offered to buy all outstanding shares in the Woodland Hills tech company at $12.50 a share, or a total of $185 million. That was more than a 20 percent premium to the pre-offer price.

“The board, after consulting with its advisors, concluded that the current proposal was conditional and undervalues the company and its prospects,” United Online said in a statement.

United Online owns several Internet service provider companies, as well as websites and the customer loyalty program MyPoints and mobile commerce app Swappable.

In recent years, the company has divested its web assets. For example, floral ecommerce site FTD Cos. Inc. was spun off as a separate company in 2013. Earlier this year, United Online sold social media site Classmates.com for $30 million, and it has announced plans to sell StayFriends, a European social media site.

On Wednesday, Principal Executive Officer Howard G. Phanstiel said that JMP Securities LLC, a division of JMP Group in San Francisco, has been hired as a financial advisor to assist the strategic review process.

“Building on the company’s solid capital position and core competencies, our management team is implementing and executing its business strategy with the goals of returning to revenue growth, higher profitability and stronger positioning for the long term,” Phanstiel said in a prepared statement.

Shares on Wednesday closed up 30 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $11.32 on the Nasdaq.

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