THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 23, 1994 TAG: 9407230226
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LITTLE ROCK, ARK. LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Tyson Foods Inc., frustrated in its attempts to take over Virginia-based WLR Foods Inc. through a stock buyout, is taking another approach.
Tyson said Friday it was nominating eight people to WLR's board of directors.
Tyson said in a release that if its nominees are elected, they will push WLR to ``enter into a definitive merger agreement with Tyson.''
Tyson also planned to offer a resolution to expand the WLR board from 10 to 15 members when WLR holds its annual stockholders meeting this fall.
Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson is the nation's largest poultry processor. WLR, based in Broadway, is among the top 10 poultry processors.
Tyson's earlier efforts have been thwarted by Virginia laws that make hostile takeovers difficult. Tyson is challenging those laws in federal court, claiming they're unconstitutional.
Tyson owns more than 600,000 common shares, representing about 5.4 percent of WLR. It wants to buy WLR for $330 million, or $30 a share.
Having Tyson nominees on the board would make the issue of Virginia's anti-takeover laws moot, the company said.
``Their sole purpose is to sell the company to Tyson,'' WLR spokeswoman Gayle Price said in a telephone interview Friday. ``None of them are Virginians, West Virginians, Pennsylvanians. None of them have any involvement or understanding of our company.''
Messages left for Tyson spokesman Archie Schaffer at his home and office Friday weren't immediately returned. by CNB