An individual filed a complaint in the New York Southern District on Wednesday against Raven Industries Inc. alleging that it violated various sections of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by misrepresenting facts regarding a proposed acquisition of the company by CNH Industrial N.V. and affiliates.
Raven is a South Dakota manufacturing company known for precision agriculture, films, and high altitude research balloons. The defendants include the company and members of its board of directors. The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Shiva Stein, who reportedly is an owner of Raven common stock.
The complaint explained that under the merger with Raven and CNH, the CNH Subsidiary would merge into Raven and Raven would become a CNH subsidiary. Raven common shares that are issued and outstanding would entitle the owner to $6 for each share.
Stein alleged that a proxy statement which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and sent to stockholders on July 19 was “materially incomplete and misleading. Stein reported that the defendants asked stockholders to support the merger, but did not give correct information regarding financial forecasts and analysis so that they could make educated decisions.
“It is imperative that the material information that has been omitted from the Proxy Statement is disclosed to the Company’s stockholders prior to the forthcoming stockholder vote so that they can properly exercise their corporate suffrage rights,” the filing said.
Through the lawsuit, Stein said he seeks to enjoin the merger from occurring until the correct information has been given to the stockholders, or if that does not occur, to recover damages based on the alleged violations of the Securities and Exchange Act.
The plaintiff is represented by Melwani & Chan LLP.
