Park Lawn withdraws Carriage Services offer
Yesterday Park Lawn Corporation issued a press release stating that “it has declined to participate further in Carriage Services, Inc.’s (NYSE: CSV) (“Carriage”) previously announced strategic review process and that it has withdrawn its all cash proposal to purchase the outstanding stock of Carriage.”
The press release which you can read here also mentions “Park Lawn does not intend to comment further on its withdrawal from Carriage’s strategic review process or regarding the withdrawal of its offer unless it deems further disclosure is appropriate or required.”
This in essence ends all the speculation over the past three months of a potential purchase of Carriage Services. It was on June 29 of this year when speculation about a possible sale/merger/takeover between the two companies came to the surface. Both companies issued press releases that day.
It was eventually learned that a letter to Carriage Services from Park Lawn Corporation dated June 13, 2023, included an offer from Park Lawn Corporation and partner Brookfield Asset Management spelling out a $34 per share cash offer to acquire Carriage Services.
Here is the press release that Carriage Services issued on June 29, 2023
Here is the press release that Park Lawn Corporation issued on June 29, 2023.
Here is an article that Funeral Director Daily published on June 30, 2023, about the situation.
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This has likely just started not ended. Carriage pride/ego makes it hard for them to understand just how bad their debt levels are in the real world of higher interest rates. Then add that 10% to as much as 20% of their locations leave a lot to be desired. Their SP is going to get hammered on the open but, I think some info has been leaked as the SP has fallen hard the last 2 weeks because of this likely outcome. Not a good look. PLC likely gets aggressive with acquisitions they may have been holding off on. Does Brookfield Asset Management try and buy CSV or PLC themselves? My takeaway is PLC was financially disciplined. IMO, even $34 with that much debt was a bit on the high side. I honestly can’t think of many options for Carriage. I wouldn’t be surprised they went out and bought another 30 locations next week. If they can’t get their debt under control, they may not be around in 12-18 months. That would be a shame.