Cases & Deals

Parakou Tankers defends putative shareholder class action and derivative action

Client(s) Parakou Tankers, Inc.

Jones Day is representing Parakou Tankers Inc. ("Parakou") in a putative shareholder class action and derivative action pending in Florida state court arising out of a proposed merger between a special purpose acquisition company called Cambridge Capital Acquisition Corporation ("Cambridge") and Parakou.

Plaintiff, a shareholder of Cambridge, alleges that the board of Cambridge breached its fiduciary duties in connection with its approval of the merger and that certain material information was omitted from the proxy statement. Specifically, Plaintiff claims that the board members have conflicts of interest stemming from a requirement that Cambridge consummate a transaction before June 23, 2015 or liquidate, and that the merger will thus benefit the individual board members and initial shareholders, but not the public shareholders. The complaint further alleges that Parakou aided and abetted the board's breach of fiduciary duty by, among other things, negotiating the transaction with knowledge of the board members' conflicts of interest. Plaintiff seeks to enjoin the transaction.

Brian Levy v. Benjamin Gordon, et al, No. 2015CA003339 (Fla. 15th Cir.)