NEW YORK, May 27, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that on May 23, 2014 it filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court, Northern District of California (the "Court") on behalf of all holders of Safeway Inc. ("Safeway" or the "Company") (NYSE: SWY ) common stock. The action names as defendants the Company, its Board of Directors, Albertson's LLC ("Albertson's"), Saturn Acquisition Merger Sub, Inc. and Cerberus Capital Management L.P. for, among other things, violations of Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 14a-9 promulgated thereunder.
The complaint arises out of a March 6, 2014 press release issued by Safeway announcing that the individual defendants had agreed to sell the Company to Albertson's for $32.50 per Safeway share plus special dividends and/or CVRs related to the planned disposition of certain of the Company's "non-core assets," estimated to be worth $3.65 per share (the "Proposed Transaction"). In addition, Safeway intends to distribute the 37.8 million shares it owns in Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc. to shareholders in mid-April 2014. The Blackhawk distribution has a current value of $3.95 per Company share. All together, the Proposed Transaction will result in a consideration for Safeway shareholders worth approximately $40 per share.
Several equity analysts had price targets for Safeway well above the proposed consideration of $40 per share prior to the announcement of the Proposed Transaction, and numerous others have been sharply critical of the deal since it was announced.
The complaint further alleges that, in an effort to secure shareholder approval for the Proposed Transaction, the individual defendants filed a materially false and misleading Proxy Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, thereby violating their duties of candor and full disclosure.
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than July 14, 2014. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions, please contact Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP at 270 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, by telephone at (800) 575-0735 (Benjamin Y. Kaufman, Greg Stone) via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com , or gstone@whafh.com or visit our website at www.whafh.com . All e-mail correspondence should make reference to "Safeway".
