The board of engineering firm Michael Baker Corp. starts 2013 facing new pressure from stockholders who have been seeking to boost share value for months. Now one of the Pittsburgh-based firm's investors is pushing a buyout offer, with another urging it to accept. The overture comes in the midst of a search for a new CEO.
The board and long-time Chairman Richard L. Shaw, 85, have to make a "compelling case" for the firm to stay public and independent before its proxy meeting in February, "or they could have a fight on their hands," Tahira Afzal, analyst for KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., New York City, told ENR on Jan. 2.