Insider Group Counters Offer for Big O Tires : Acquisition: Senior managers and franchise holders bid $62 million in attempt to stave off takeover by AKH Co. of Anaheim.

An offer by AKH Co., an Anaheim-based chain of retail tire stores, to buy competitor Big O Tires Inc. has been countered by a group of senior managers and franchise holders, Big O said Monday.

The insider group has offered to buy Big O Tires Inc. for $18.50 a share, or $62 million, the company said. When privately held AKH made its offer in November, terms were not disclosed.

John Siipola, Big O’s chairman, said the buyout proposal is being sent to the board of directors’ investment committee, which was formed in June after a proxy fight forced the company to consider alternatives for enhancing shareholder value.

Horst Mehlfeldt, an investment committee representative and board member, said that both the management offer and the AKH proposal will be evaluated.

“It is too early to know how this offer will impact other alternatives, including the interest expressed by AKH Co.,” Mehlfeldt said, adding that AKH has already started to review Big O documents.

The latest offer came from a group led by Steven Cloward, Big O’s president and chief executive officer. In an April 11 proxy statement, the company said that Cloward owned 2.21% of Big O’s stock.

Since the wrangling over a possible sale of Big O, which is one of the largest independent retail tire and auto-service franchisers in North America, Big O’s stock has risen 33% to a 52-week closing high of $17.25 a share on Nov. 2. It closed Monday at $17.19 a share, up $1.19, in Nasdaq trading on more than five times the average daily volume.

Big O, based in Englewood, Colo., has 370 stores in 18 states, primarily in the West and Midwest. The company also has 41 associated dealers in British Columbia. AKH has 130 retail tire stores in four Western states.