Rawlings Shareholder Boosts Bid

Rawlings Sporting Goods’ largest shareholder Sunday bumped up his offer to acquire the company to $69.1 million, or $8.50 a share in cash, hoping to gain the upper hand in a bidding war for the baseball equipment maker.

Daniel Gilbert, who owns a nearly 15% stake in Rawlings, also said he was removing his request for a diligence review of the company’s books to expedite a transaction.

Last week, Los Angeles-based ski and snowboard maker K2 Inc. confirmed to The Times that it has been in talks since November to acquire the 115-year-old Rawlings. Terms were not disclosed, but it was believed to be an all-stock offer.

Gilbert indicated in a statement that he was raising his previous offer of $8 a share because he believes that K2 doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to enact measures needed to improve Rawlings’ bottom line.

“As the company’s largest shareholder, I am very concerned that the company’s contemplated merger with K2 will do nothing to effect the necessary improvement measures, and in fact may exacerbate the existing problems, because K2 is a company that is still attempting to repair itself,” Gilbert said.

Neither K2 nor Rawlings officials were available for comment.

Fenton, Mo.-based Rawlings is one of the nation’s oldest suppliers of baseball gloves and equipment and is one of the most recognizable brand names in sporting goods. But the company, which went public in 1994, has seen little growth.

Rawlings shares were unchanged Friday at $8.18 on Nasdaq. K2 shares closed at $9.87 on the New York Stock Exchange.