Ropak Wins Injunction Against Ohio Firm

Ropak Corp. said it has won a permanent injunction against Buckhorn Inc. in its court battle to invalidate the so-called poison pill anti-takeover measure Buckhorn’s directors approved after Ropak launched a tender offer for stock in the Milford, Ohio, plastic container manufacturer.

Fullerton-based Ropak, also a maker of plastic containers, said an Ohio court has prohibited Buckhorn from implementing its poison pill stock rights plan, which would have made the Buckhorn acquisition prohibitively expensive.

The court also prohibited Buckhorn’s Employee Stock Option Plan from voting its shares and from acquiring any additional shares.

Additionally, Ropak said it won a preliminary injunction that prohibits several Buckhorn executives from exercising stock options and prohibits adoption of several changes in Buckhorn President Richard P. Johnston’s employment contract, including a six-year employment extension and clauses permitting Johnston to receive the present value of his future salary and immediate funding of his pension supplement upon a change in control of Buckhorn.

Ropak has extended the expiration of its tender offer to midnight EST on Feb. 27. As of Feb. 11, Ropak said, 24% of Buckhorn’s combined 3.35 million shares of common and preferred stock had been tendered. Ropak has offered $4 per share for Buckhorn’s 1.5 million shares of common stock and $5.75 a share for the company’s 1.85 million shares of Class A preferred stock.