Paul, Weiss is widely recognized as having one of the nation’s preeminent securities litigation and regulatory practices. For two decades, our lawyers have guided global corporations and financial institutions through a series of “bet-the-company” securities-related crises, consistently reducing or eliminating their most damaging claims and negotiating favorable resolutions.
AR Global Wins Dismissal of Investor Lawsuit Stemming From 2017 Merger
- Client News
- December 20, 2021
Paul, Weiss won the dismissal of a long-running investor lawsuit against clients AR Global Investments, LLC, American Finance Advisors, LLC, and current and former top executives Nicholas Schorsch, William Kahane, Edward Weil, Jr. and Nicholas Radesca.
The lawsuit relates to the 2017 merger between two AR Global-managed REITs: American Finance Trust, Inc. and American Realty Capital — Retail Centers of America, Inc. Paul, Weiss previously won the dismissal in the Southern District of New York of federal securities claims and state law fiduciary duty claims arising out of the same merger and asserted against the same defendants. After the federal dismissal was affirmed by the Second Circuit, plaintiffs sought to amend a parallel state court action to restyle their claims as “derivative.”
New York State Justice Andrea Masley denied the plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend and dismissed the action in its entirety. Justice Masley adopted the defendants’ argument that the plaintiffs’ proposed claims were extinguished because the merger was approved by a majority of each REIT’s disinterested shareholders after the proxies clearly disclosed the terms and risks of the merger. On that basis, Justice Masley determined that the plaintiffs’ amendment to the complaint would not correct its legal deficiencies.
The Paul, Weiss team included litigation partner Audra Soloway, who argued the motion, and associates Daniel Sinnreich and Andrew Topal.