O’Reilly enters standstill agreement with CSK

SBJ Staff

Posted online February 7, 2008 | 9:44 am

O’Reilly Automotive reported this morning that it has entered a standstill agreement with CSK Auto Corp. in its effort to acquire the aftermarket-parts retailer, less than a week after announcing it would go directly to CSK shareholders.

A standstill agreement stipulates that a company will not acquire any additional shares of another firm for a certain amount of time. O’Reilly currently owns 2 million shares, or 4.9 percent of CSK common stock.

Last Friday, O’Reilly made public its intentions to acquire Phoenix-based CSK by paying $8 for each of the company’s 44 million outstanding shares of common stock. At the time, O’Reilly said it had attempted to strike a deal privately with CSK’s executives but was forced to take its proposal to shareholders.

CSK responded that day by saying it is working to maximize stockholder value and, in doing so, has entered confidentiality and standstill agreements with more than 20 parties that have been granted access to nonpublic CSK information. CSK said it had offered O’Reilly the chance to do the same, but O’Reilly declined.

O’Reilly in a news release today says it will now “participate in CSK’s previously announced process.”

O’Reilly shares (Nasdaq: ORLY) closed Wednesday at $28.85, and CSK shares (NYSE: CAO) closed at $9.10.[[In-content Ad]]