Law Firm Brower Piven Announces Investigation of Berry Petroleum Company Proposed Acquisition

The securities litigation firm of Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, has commenced an investigation into possible breaches of fiduciary duty to current shareholders of Berry Petroleum Company (“Berry Petroleum” or the “Company”) (NYSE: “BRY”) and other violations of state law by the board of directors of Berry Petroleum relating to the proposed acquisition of the Company by Linn Energy, LLC (“Linn”) and LinnCo, LLC (“LinnCo”). The firm’s investigation seeks to determine, among other things, whether Berry Petroleum’s board of directors breached their fiduciary duties by failing to maximize shareholder value.

According to the press release announcing the proposed acquisition, Linn and LinnCo will acquire all of Berry Petroleum’s outstanding shares for total consideration of $4.3 billion, including the assumption of debt. The proposed acquisition is structured as a stock-for-stock merger of LinnCo with Berry Petroleum, followed by the acquisition of Berry Petroleum’s assets by Linn. The Company’s shareholders will receive 1.25 common shares of LinnCo for every Berry Petroleum common share they own. According to the companies’ joint press release, the consideration to be received by the Company’s shareholders is valued at $46.2375 per Berry Petroleum share based on LinnCo’s closing price as of February 20, 2013. According to Yahoo! Finance, the high analyst price target is $50.00 per Berry Petroleum share.

If you currently own common stock of Berry Petroleum and would like to learn more about the investigation being conducted by Brower Piven, you may email or call Brower Piven, who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer your questions. You may contact Brower Piven by email at hoffman@browerpiven.com, by calling (410) 415-6616, or at Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, 1925 Old Valley Road, Stevenson, Maryland 21153. Attorneys at Brower Piven have combined experience litigating securities and other class action cases of over 60 years.