Cases & Investigations
AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. Stockholder Litigation
Type: Resolved Cases
Case Number: 2018-0396-AGB
Court: Delaware Chancery Court
Settlement Amount: $40,000,000
Wolf Popper LLP Commences Litigation on Behalf of Arca Capital Against AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.
On May 30, 2018, Wolf Popper filed a lawsuit against AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. (“AmTrust”) in the Delaware Court of Chancery, on behalf of Arca Capital Group (“Arca”), a private equity group with offices in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic that owns over 4.8 million AmTrust shares. The lawsuit seeks to obtain certain of AmTrust’s corporate books and records.
On March 1, 2018, AmTrust, an insurance holding company, announced that it had entered into a merger agreement whereby its controlling stockholder family will acquire the company’s unaffiliated stock for $13.50 per share. Following widespread and intense criticism of the deal (including from Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc.), as well as a proxy battle initiated by activist investor and AmTrust stockholder Carl Icahn, the controlling family increased its offer to $14.75 per share. Arca believes that the merger price offered to minority stockholders is inadequate, and that the controlling family is attempting to purchase AmTrust at a steep discount. In this lawsuit, Arca seeks, among other things, internal financial documents concerning the fair value of AmTrust stock, as well as material shedding light on certain conflicts of interest maintained by the AmTrust directors who were tasked with negotiating the merger for the benefit of minority stockholders. The merger is expected to close in the second half of 2018.
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