Coleman Board Considers Buyout Bid by Chairman

Coleman Co., the outdoor equipment maker whose sturdy lanterns and stoves are standard American camping gear, said Tuesday that its board is considering a possible $450.6-million management buyout offer.

Shares of the Wichita, Kan.-based company soared $21 to $70.125 on the New York Stock Exchange, above the $64-a-share buyout price. Analysts said the stock jumped on a belief that another suitor may emerge.

“My view is they can go higher,” said analyst Daniel Coleman of Seattle firm Ragen & Mackenziean. “It is worth between $65 and $70 a share.”

“It’s a management leveraged buyout and all management LBOs are eventually sweetened,” said one trader.

The offer, led by Coleman Chairman and Chief Executive Sheldon Coleman, consists of $54 cash and $10 a share in preferred stock. Coleman’s board was scheduled to meet late Tuesday to discuss the proposal and expects to make a further announcement this morning, the company said.

The analyst Coleman, who is not related to the chairman, said the camping concern has many desirable brand names in its Coleman lanterns, stoves and coolers, Mastercraft ski boats and O’Brien water skis.

“It has great brand names,” he said. “Most leveraged buyout firms will have to look at it, as well as foreign investors and maybe leisure products companies like Brunswick Corp. or Outboard Marine Corp.” Brunswick declined comment, while Outboard Marine was not immediately available.

Traders said the company might be auctioned off to the highest bidder. “The chairman may be putting the company in play to solicit other bids for it,” one trader said.

Coleman earned $22.7 million, or $3.23 a share, on revenue of $517 million for the nine months ended Nov. 30. Its chairman said in November that the company should earn between $3.40 and $3.50 a share for the full year.