Two Commerce Bancorp shareholdersare suing to try to block a shareholder litigation settlement that is key tothe bank’s $8.5 billion merger with
In court documents filed late lastweek, Ben Rozwood, an attorney for the two plaintiffs, asked the judge to throwout the proposed settlement reached by the companies and shareholder litigationfirm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann.
The two shareholders also ask thecourt to appoint Rozwood, of Robbins Umeda & Fink in
Rozwood and his clients say thesettlement reached by Bernstein Litowitz, which acted as lead counsel forshareholders in nearly a dozen consolidated lawsuits aimed at stopping themerger, did not cure problems with the deal.
Shareholders claimed, among otherthings, that the deal was undervalued, riddled with conflicts of interest, andthat the termination fee that deters Commerce from seeking another suitor wastoo high.
“The only thing they got forthe class was a reduction in the termination fee (but) the reduction iscontingent on the TD Bank deal closing (when) it’s too late for another suitorto come in and bid,” Rozwood said.