Selling baseball cards isn't the same fun for Topps that it used to be, as modern kids get distracted by video games and the Internet. But Topps also makes money on products like Bazooka bubble gum and Ring Pops. In an effort to improve its business, Topps hired Lehman Brothers in 2005 to figure out whether and how it should sell (see BusinessWeek.com, 7/12/05, "What's in the Cards for Topps?"). The company's agreement with Torrance et al. remains subject to approvals and is expected to close sometime between early July and late September.

"Over the past two years, with the assistance of Lehman Brothers, we’ve tried to examine all our opportunities and no other superior proposal has emerged in this time frame," said a spokeswoman from Topps. "In our opinion, the idea suggested by the dissidents [shareholder activists] would not result in greater value for stockholders."

Topps CEO Arthur T. Shorin is under pressure from shareholders who have agitated for change. In the summer, the hedge funds Crescendo Partners and Pembridge Capital got their respective people -- Arnaud Ajdler, Timothy Brog, and John J. Jones -- onto Topps' board, at the same time the company agreed to expand the number of board seats from nine to ten.

Now when the board voted on the offer from Eisner, only Topps' three new members opposed. Crescendo's director Arnaud Ajdler promised to campaign against the deal in a Mar. 6 letter to Topps board, criticizing them for not shopping the company around and for agreeing to sell at less than fair value.