WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cosmetics company Revlon Inc. has agreed to pay a $850,000 fine to settle federal charges that it withheld key information from shareholders about a "going-private" transaction.
Going-private transactions are typically when a company seeks to cash out shareholders so it or a private equity firm can acquire all outstanding shares.
The Securities and Exchange Commission found that during such a voluntary exchange offer to satisfy a $107 million debt to a controlling shareholder, Revlon misled investors by not telling them that an outside adviser had found the terms of the deal inadequate.
The agency Revlon neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing but agreed to refrain from future securities-law violations.
The controlling shareholder was MacAndrews and Forbes, a firm controlled by billionaire Ronald Perelman.
