Reuters
Alleghany shareholder sues to block $11.6 billion Berkshire buyout over lack of disclosures
Alleghany Corp, which agreed last month to be acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, was sued on Wednesday by a shareholder who accused the insurance company of making inadequate and misleading disclosures about the $11.6 billion takeover. In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the plaintiff Shiva Stein said Alleghany failed in a proxy statement to adequately explain the financial basis for the “fairness opinion” issued by its bankers at Goldman Sachs, which assessed whether the deal was fair to shareholders. Absent additional disclosures, “plaintiff will be unable to make a fully-informed decision regarding whether to vote in favor of the proposed transaction, and she is thus threatened with irreparable harm,” the complaint said.