SAN DIEGO, Feb. 20, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. announces that an investor in H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ) shares filed a lawsuit to block the proposed takeover of H.J. Heinz Company by an investment consortium comprised of Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital at $72.50 per HNZ share.

Investors who purchased a significant amount of shares of H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ) prior to February 14, 2013 and currently hold any of those H.J. Heinz Company shares, have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation, Inc. at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1 (858) 779-1554.

On February 14, 2013, H.J. Heinz Company announced that it has entered into a merger agreement to be acquired by an investment consortium comprised of Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital. Under the terms of the agreement shareholders of H.J. Heinz Company will receive $72.50 in cash for each HNZ share of common stock they own.

However, the plaintiff alleges that the $72.50-offer is unfair to HNZ stockholders and undervalues the company. The plaintiff says that HNZ stock rose nearly 12% since the beginning of 2012 and the company boosted sales to $11.7 billion in fiscal 2012, a gain of 8.8% from the year before. In addition, most recently H.J. Heinz Company reported strong operating results for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, ended October 28, 2012.

According to the complaint, the proposed acquisition is being driven by the Board and Company management in order to secure liquidity for their illiquid holdings in H.J. Heinz Company. The plaintiff claims that from the sale of their illiquid block of shares in the proposed acquisition, the Board of directors and Company management will receive more than $400 million.

In addition, the plaintiff alleges that to ensure Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, and only Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, acquire H.J. Heinz Company, defendants included several deal protection devices in the Merger Agreement, such as a no-solicitation, an information and matching rights, and massive $1.4 billion termination fee provision, that ensure that no competing offers will emerge for the Company. 

Those who currently are investors in H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ) shares and purchased a substantial amount of HNZ shares before the announcement have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation.

The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is a professional portfolio legal monitoring and settlement claim filing service, which does research related to shareholder issues and informs investors of securities class actions, settlements, judgments, and other legal related news to the stock/financial market. The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is not a law firm. The information is provided as a public service. It is not intended as legal advice and should not be relied upon.

The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6931

CONTACT: Shareholders Foundation, Inc.
         Trevor Allen
         +1 (858) 779-1554
         mail@shareholdersfoundation.com
         3111 Camino Del Rio North
         Suite 423
         San Diego, CA 92108