Kendall Law Group to investigate Bell sale

A US based law firm involved in complex national securities litigation is looking into yesterday's sale of Bell Microproducts to Avnet to ascertain if shareholders got the best ROI and if the processes employed prior to the deal were fair.

In a dramatic turn of events, Avnet has forked out $7 per share for NASDAQ listed Bell, valuing the enterprise distributor at $594m (£396.6m) - representing a premium of 30% over the closing price on 26 March.

However, Kendall Law Group is investigating the details of the acquisition on behalf of shareholders and has encouraged them to contact it should they have concerns.

The law firm said in a statement it was "investigating whether a fair process was used prior to entering into the merger agreement".

It also intends to find out if "the Bell board of directors breached their fiduciary duties by not seeking a deal that would provide better value of the company," Kendall added

When the deal was revealed, Don Bell, president of the eponymously named distributor said the transaction delivered "excellent value" to shareholders.