Is ChaPaVe Partners' Tactical Tender Offer of Travelzoo Legitimate?

On Friday morning, a press release was issued stating that ChaPaVe Partners was attempting a tactical tender offer of Travelzoo TZOO, in a going-private attempt for $40 per share. The announcement sent shares of Travelzoo spiking sharply higher, as the company rallied nearly 9.50% in pre-market trading. However, there was some doubt over the legitimacy of the press release. Benzinga contacted PR Newswire, which had initially published the report. PR Newswire was unable to confirm the validity of the release. Calls to ChaPaVe's Partners' contact number contained within the report directed to the law offices of Read Rankin, a corporate tax attorney with no apparent connections to the financial services industry. The website given—www.chapave.com—was registered less than one-month ago. Further, the website itself appears to have been constructed hastily, with little in the way of professional design (the website's single image is taken directly from Wikipedia). Travelzoo maintains no direct investor relations line. An analyst covering the company stated that he had no information about ChaPaVe Partners, but noted that, on a historical basis, tactical tender offers are frequently fraudulent. Benzinga will continue to investigate the matter. Stay tuned for further updates.