SAN FRANCISCO – A stockholder is suing a company's board over allegations of breach of duty in a proposed merger.
Gerald Douglas filed a class-action lawsuit on Feb. 24 in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California against Frank Witney, Nelson Chan, Gary Guthart, Jami Nachtsheim, Riccardo Pigliucci, Merilee Raines, Robert Trice and Affymetrix Inc., citing breach of fiduciary duty and violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that he was asked to support the proposed transaction between the defendant and Thermo Fisher based on the decision of the board. The plaintiff holds the defendants responsible because they allegedly provided an incomplete and misleading proxy statement, which recommended that Affymetrix stockholders vote in favor of the proposed transaction between the defendant and Thermo Fisher.
The plaintiff seeks the following: enjoin the defendants from proceeding or closing the proposed transaction until the defendants disclose the allegedly omitted material information, award plaintiff legal fees and grant any other relief as the court deems just and proper. He is represented by Barbara A. Rohr of Faruqi & Faruqi in Los Angeles and Juan E. Monteverde and Derrick B. Farrell of Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP in New York and Delaware.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 3:16-cv-00921-WHO