Power-Alley: TRC Capital Tries To Catch Retail Investors Unaware, And Buy Shares Below NYSE Quoted Prices... Ugh. Ignore Them.

This is a securities lawyer's PSA: entities like TRC look to buy up under 5% of various high dividend, solid, long standing blue chip companies' free shares -- all to either clip the dividend, and/or then resell on a small rise on the NYSE. At the moment, the outfit is offering about 4% below today's NYSE prices, for shares of Merck. Don't fall for it.

Walmart, Pfizer, P&G and AMD are just a few of the names TRC has targeted in the past. Most of these bids see anemic participation / performance, once the word gets out. And Rahway is putting out the word tonight, after market-close:

. . .Merck has been notified that TRC Capital Investment Corporation (TRC Capital) has commenced an unsolicited “mini-tender” offer, dated November 12, 2024, to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares of Merck common stock at $96.38 per share. The offer price is approximately 4.32% below the closing price of the Merck common stock on November 11, 2024 ($100.73), the last trading day before the date of the offer, and approximately 3.48% below the closing price of the Merck common stock on November 21, 2024 ($99.86), the day prior to this release.

Merck does not endorse TRC Capital’s offer and recommends that Merck shareholders reject the offer and not tender their shares in response to TRC Capital’s unsolicited mini-tender offer. This mini-tender offer is at a price below the closing price for Merck’s shares. . . .

Like TRC Capital’s other offers, this one puts individual investors at risk because they may not realize they are selling their shares at a discount. Merck urges shareholders to obtain current stock quotes for their shares of Merck common stock, to review the terms and conditions of the offer, to consult with their brokers or financial advisers, and to exercise caution with respect to TRC Capital’s mini-tender offer.

Merck shareholders who have already tendered are advised they may withdraw their shares by following the procedures for withdrawal described in the TRC Capital offer documents prior to the expiration of the offer, which is currently scheduled for 11:59 a.m. EST on December 11, 2024. . . .

Now you know -- ignore these jokers, people. The practice, without more in the way of affirmative fraud -- is lawful. So you must protect. . . yourself. If you do want to cash some of your Merck stock, just call your own broker, and set a limit order slightly above the last closing price on the NYSE. It is my opinion that within 12 months, this stock will reach $130 a share, and most of Wall Street sees it that same way, with an injectable version of Keytruda due in 2025. [Don't give these clowns your potential 30% gain in a year.] Onward, grinning!

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