Law firms scrutinize Kirby, K-Sea deal

Law firms scrutinize Kirby, K-Sea deal    At least a dozen law firms have said they are investigating Kirby Corp.'s proposed acquisition of K-Sea Transportation Partners, announced over the weekend.
   The law firm of Bernstein Liebhard LLP said its investigation “is focused on the potential unfairness of the price to K-Sea shareholders and the process by which the K-Sea board of directors considered and approved the transaction.”.
   Kirby will pay $335 million for K-Sea’s equity and refinance $265 million of K-Sea debt. K-Sea’s common and preferred unit holders will receive $8.15 per unit in consideration in the form of cash and Kirby common stock. That’s a 26 percent premium over K-Sea’s closing price of $6.47 last Friday.
   K-Sea traded from $3.80 to $10.12 in the past year.
   The law firm of Finkelstein Thompson said K-Sea reported a book value of $11.77 per share in the most recent quarter.
   Other law firms making similar announcements include Vincent Wong; Ryan & Maniskas; Howard G. Smith; Robbins Umeda; Levi & Korsinsky; Murray, Frank & Sailer; Harwood Feffer; the Briscoe Law Firm; Rigrodsky & Long; and the Kendall Law Group.
   Last summer, one of K-Sea’s tugboats towing a third-party barge was involved in a collision with an amphibious passenger vessel — a so-called “duck boat” — off of Penn's Landing in the Delaware River. The duck boat was carrying 35 tourists and two tourists died in the accident.