The battle for Coinstar is over before it’s begun.
Faced with slowing growth and a sagging stock price, the company — best known for its Redbox DVD rental kiosks — has taken steps to avert a potential shareholder battle, sources told The Post.
The company — whose stock shed nearly a quarter of its value last year — this week raised $350 million of debt, which a source said it will use to buy back its battered shares.
It has also replaced its top executives, including the chairman, CEO and chief financial officer, over the past few months.
The moves have helped appease jittery investors leading up to the company’s annual shareholder meeting in June.
“I think the moves probably accomplish its objectives,” one source said.
Indeed, one activist investor who was planning to nominate one or more directors to the board backed off after the company announced the latest share buyback, a source said.
Coinstar — which is trying to expand into new areas such as coffee dispensers as its DVD rental business slows — has bought back 12 percent of its shares in the last seven months. That has lifted the stock from a low of about $43 in mid-November, to $53.73 yesterday.
Last summer, the company rebuffed an offer from Providence Equity Partners to take it private. At the time, Coinstar was trading at around $60 a share. Despite rejecting the offer, it was still considered a takeover target.
“Issuing debt and buying back shares gives it protection against a takeover,” the source said.
A Coinstar spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.