MotherNature.com Shares Rise 40% on $11.4-Million Purchase Offer

Shares of MotherNature.com Inc., which owns a popular health and family Web site, rose nearly 40% to 69 cents Friday on news that an Encino-based Internet investment company is attempting to buy the company for 75 cents per share.

Sitestar Corp., a former burrito wholesaler, offered this week to buy the company in a deal valued at $11.4 million.

The board of Concord, Mass.-based MotherNature.com discussed the offer Friday, said Michael Barach, president and chief executive, but declined to say whether any action was taken.

Barach did say the company “is always looking to maximize shareholder value; we’re always looking to improve the price that the shareholder stock is worth.”

Clinton J. Sallee, president and chief executive of Sitestar, said he had not gotten a response from MotherNature.com, but acknowledged that the increased attention following the purchase offer was pushing up the stock price.

“My guess is that we’ll be required to increase the price [offered] commensurate with the market, as long as the deal still makes sense to us.”