Biglari Continues Pursuit of Fremont, Fremont Offers Homeowners Wood-Burning Unit Maintenance Advice

Biglari Holdings(BH) released a letter today, filed with an amended 13-D, reiterating its interest in acquiring Fremont Michigan(FMMH.OB) for $29 per share in cash, and indicated a willingness to discuss a higher transaction value with Fremont’s Special Committee.

The Special Committee has been entirely silent since Fremont’s initial offer, watching the stock’s price fall back to significantly below the $29 value of the offer, while offering no comment on the decision. Fremont hasn’t been entirely silent though. The letter reveals that Biglari met Fremont on December 1 to discuss a transaction. The following day, December 2, Fremont issued a press release entitled “Fremont Insurance Offers Homeowners Wood-Burning Unit Maintenance Advice“

This was followed up with “December Can Be Deadly: Preventing Home Electrical Fires” on December 7, “Is Your Home Winter-Wise?” on December 15, and “Identity Theft: The Gift that Keeps on Giving” With the stock now trading at $23.50(and lower in the past few days), when will the Board start worrying as much about protecting shareholder value as it does on trite press releases on protecting property?

Disclosure: The author owns shares in both BH and FMMH