THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503110271
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Staff and wire report
LENGTH: Short : 29 lines
Lillian Vernon Corp., the catalog-retailer with operations in Virginia Beach, said Friday that it was exploring the possibility of selling the company or merging with another concern. The New York-based retailer said it was working with investment bankers Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Shearman & Sterling, its legal counsel. ``The retention of financial and legal advisers was part of the company's continuing efforts to ensure that it considered all possibilities that could be in the best interests of the company and its stockholders,'' the company said.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lillian Katz and members of her family hold three of the company's seven board seats and control 45 percent of its stock. ``The family is supportive'' of the plan to seek prospective buyers, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Gregor said.
Emma Hill at Furman Selz said that the price could range from $22 to $30 a share. Lillian Vernon's shares jumped 3 1/4, or 18 percent, Friday to close at 21. Lillian Vernon opened a 454,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center in Virginia Beach's Oceana West Industrial Park in 1988 and later expanded the facility. by CNB