Group Seeking Pic ‘N’ Save Bid Trying to Lure Investors

The investment group that is attempting to take over Pic ‘N’ Save said Tuesday that it has started trying to lure investors to its side even as the Dominguez-based close-out retail chain evaluates ways to boost its stock price.

Girard Partners, led by David H. Batchelder, former strategist for Texas corporate raider T. Boone Pickens Jr., previously has revealed plans to oust five members of the Pic ‘N’ Save board and install three of its own nominees, giving the group a majority. The group, which owns 6.6% of Pic ‘N’ Save, has said it would then sell part or all of the retailer to the partnership or another bidder.

At a meeting last Saturday between the two camps, Pic ‘N’ Save said it is responding to the threat by “evaluating potential courses of action to enhance stockholder value,” Girard Partners said in a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Girard representatives replied “that they believe that a sale of the company is the most desirable alternative,” the filing stated.

A spokesman for Pic ‘N’ Save refused to comment on the filing. No one from Girard Partners could be reached for comment.

Girard Partners also said it has asked Pic ‘N’ Save for access to non-public financial and other information about the company and would agree to “appropriate confidentiality arrangements.”