United Rentals Shareholders Refile Suit Over Deal

United Rentals Shareholders Refile Suit Over Deal - 4/17/2009

Home

Index of Filings

News and Press Releases

Filings

Decisions

Settlements

Litigation Activity Indices

Top Ten List

Annual/Quarterly Updates

Clearinghouse Research

Articles & Papers

Search

Related Sites

About Us

Local Rules

Sponsors

Register

_______________
Copyright © 2001
Stanford Law School

2009 News and Press Releases

SEARCH

News	News 2009
HEADLINES \| SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS \| COURT FILINGS LINKS TO OTHER NEWS \| NEWS ARCHIVE	HEADLINES ARCHIVED SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS ARCHIVED

DISMISSAL NEWS:

United Rentals Shareholders Refile Suit Over Deal
Jesse Greenspan

Securities Law 360. April 17, 2009
_________________________________________________________________________

EXCERPT: Shareholders of United Rentals Inc. have filed a second amended class action complaint accusing the company and two of its executives of misrepresenting facts about a failed buyout deal, in an attempt to address deficiencies a judge found in the original pleading. The first complaint, brought in November 2007, accused the defendants of misrepresenting and omitting material facts in connection with the buyout deal gone bad between URI and private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP. But last month, Judge Janet C. Hall of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut dismissed the action, saying the plaintiffs had failed to meet the pleading standards established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. On April 13, however, she granted the plaintiffs' motion to reopen the case, and three days later the second consolidated amended class action complaint was filed. This time around, the plaintiffs dropped claims against Cerberus and its subsidiaries, and instead named only United Rentals and two of its executives. The plaintiffs also changed the start of the class period from July 23, 2007, when the proposed transaction was announced, to Aug. 30, 2007, when URI filed its preliminary proxy statement. “Unlike the prior complaint, the [second amended complaint] concentrates on URI's fundamentally fraudulent conduct in failing from the very outset to disclose critical aspects of the deal documents and otherwise to make meaningful risk disclosures in its public statements,” the plaintiffs said in court documents. […] In November 2007, media reports revealed that Cerberus was considering withdrawing from the proposed merger agreement, and United Rentals subsequently issued a press release acknowledging a dispute with Cerberus. At that point, United Rentals' stock price plunged, prompting the shareholder action.

Back to News page | Back to Archived News 2009 page | Back to Top

�