Law firm announces investigation of AirTran acquisition

Bull & Lifshitz, LLP announced (13-Nov-2010) an investigation into possible breaches of fiduciary duty in connection with the proposed acquisition of AirTran Holdings, Inc by entities controlled by Southwest Airlines in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately USD3.4 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of AirTran will receive a combination of Southwest common stock and cash valued between USD7.25-7.75 per share, depending upon the average trading price of Southwest stock for a 20 trading day period to and including three trading days prior to the closing of the merger. At least USD3.75 of the merger consideration will be in cash. The stock portion of the consideration will be 0.321 shares of Southwest common stock for each share of AirTran common stock, unless the trading price of Southwest common stock would cause the overall merger consideration to exceed USD7.75 per share (in which case the number of Southwest shares will be decreased so that the consideration equals USD7.75 per AirTran share) or would cause the overall merger consideration to be less than USD7.25 per share (in which case additional cash, Southwest shares or a combination of the two will be added so that the consideration equals USD7.25 per share). Bull & Lifshitz, LLP's investigation is focused on whether the proposed deal provides adequate value to the company's shareholders. [more]