Dive Brief:
- Dole Food Co. investors have decided to settle out of court a lawsuit filed against company owner David Murdock over the company's 2013 buyout.
- The resulting sum will be $2.74 per share, totaling $101 million in damages to shareholders, plus interest of at least $14 million, if vice chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery approves the class action settlement.
- "Monday's settlement agreement ends the possibility that either side could appeal, which could have taken another year to resolve," Reuters reported.
Dive Insight:
In 2013, a slim majority of shareholders approved Murdock’s purchase offer of $13.50 per share, but a number of investors pursued a class action lawsuit alleging that the sale was unfair and they were shortchanged in the deal. While the final award would come to $2.74 per share, shareholders originally wanted a much larger amount, $25 per share, as they felt Dole's assets were worth much more.
Murdock dodged questions about company financials during his trial, according to Bloomberg.
"Murdock and Carter’s conduct throughout the committee process, as well as their credibility problems at trial, demonstrated that their actions were not innocent or inadvertent, but rather intentional and in bad faith," Laster wrote in his 108-page ruling.