Reynolds America, Bd. of Directors Nailed with Securities Class Action

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Reynolds America, Inc. (RAI), America’s second-largest tobacco company, and its board of directors are the defendants in a proposed class action over alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 relating to a proposed merger between RAI and British American Tobacco p.l.c.

The complaint alleges RAI filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a “materially incomplete and misleading” definitive proxy statement pertaining to its $49 billion merger with British American Tobacco. According to the plaintiff, the proxy statement in question failed to disclose both financial projects for RAI and a valuation analysis performed by the company’s financial advisors in support of an opinion posited by Goldman Sachs & Co., among others, in support of the proposed merger.

Noting that a shareholder meeting to vote on the proposed merger is set for July 19, the lawsuit argues RAI must disclose allegedly omitted information so as to provide shareholders with an opportunity to properly exercise their corporate suffrage rights.