PHILADELPHIA — A man has filed a class-action lawsuit regarding an allegedly conflicting merger between Checkpoint Systems Inc. and CCL Industries.
Harold Litwin, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated and derivatively on behalf of Checkpoint Systems Inc., filed a lawsuit on April 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against William Smoot Antle III, George Babich Jr., Stephen N. David, Harald Kinsman, Julie S. England, Marc. T GIles, Daniel R. Maurer, Jack W. Partridge, CCL Industries Inc., and CCL Industries USA Corp., citing violation of the Exchange Act.
According to the complaint, on March 2, 2016, Checkpoint issued a press release announcing its entry into an agreement and a plan to merge with CCL, pursuant to which CCL would acquire Checkpoint in a transaction valued at $443 million. The plaintiff avers that the defendants have exacerbated their breaches of fiduciary duty by attempting to lock up the transaction with deal protection devices that preclude other bidders form making a competing offer for the company.
The plaintiff claims that the proposed transaction is full of conflicts and that the defendant have failed to adequately disclose financial information.
Litwin seeks class-action designation, that the court enjoin the shareholders' vote, imposition of a constructive trust upon any benefits improperly received by the defendants, rescinding of the merger, compensatory damages, rescissory damages, costs, disbursements, and a trial by jury. He is represented by Evan J. Smith and Marc L. Ackerman of Brodsky & Smith LLC, in Bala Cynwyd; Richard A. Acocelli, Michael A. Rogovin, and Kelly C. Keenan of WeissLaw LLP, in New York.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:16-cv-01569-LDD