The original complaint asserts claims under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint alleges that DHC was controlled by Empresas La Moderna, the largest cigarette producer in Mexico. The complaint further alleges that the conversion of the DNAP Preferred Stock into DHC Common Stock eliminated the rights and preferences of the DNAP Preferred Stockholders.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that the Aug. 13, 1996 proxy statement/prospectus that DNAP and DHC disseminated to DNAP shareholders, recommending approval of the merger, improperly failed to disclose that the real reasons for the merger were (1) to realize value for a strain of high-nicotine tobacco that DNAP had illegally developed for tobacco company Brown & Williamson, and (2) to increase the indemnity coverage of DNAP's officers and directors to insulate them from financial liability for those illegal acts.

The complaint further alleges that after the DNAP-DHC merger was consummated, DNAP pleaded guilty in January 1998 to conspiracy to violate the Tobacco Seed Export Law. The defendants named in the complaint are Empresas La Moderna, DHC, DNAP, and several officers and directors of these companies.

NOTE: The class was initially defined as the holders of $2.25 Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock ("Preferred Stock") of Defendant DNA Plant Technology Corporation ("DNAP") whose stock was exchanged for DNAP Holding Corporation ("DHC") common stock, as a result of the reverse triangular merger in which DNAP became a wholly owned subsidiary of DHC ("Merger").

The District Court dismissed all claims in September 2000. In September 2002, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals partly reversed the judgment, allowing plaintiffs to proceed with their Securities Act claims.
Plaintiffs reached a settlement in July of 2003. On November 19, the Court granted final approval of the Settlement.