Thomson Reuters has filed an application to settle a class action lawsuit over its proposed acquisition of multi-bank foreign exchange portal FXall and extended its $616 million tender offer by three days.
Thomson Reuters agreed to pay $22 per share for Nyse-listed FXall in early July, but was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit within weeks claiming that the offer seriously undervalued the company.
In a complaint filed in New York state court, Michael Rubin claims the deal is inadequate in light of the company's strong financial health, accusing top executives of pushing through a takeover proposal that rewarded top staff at the expense of ordinary shareholders.
With just 30.1% of FXall shareholders tendering their shares in favour of the offer before the 14 August cut-off point, Thomson Reuters has moved to extend the deadline to close of business Friday, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding to settle the action brought by Rubin.
In a statement, the company says: "Thomson Reuters and the other defendants entered into the Memorandum of Understanding solely to avoid the costs, risks and uncertainties inherent in litigation and the Memorandum of Understanding contains no admission of liability or wrongdoing."
It adds that FXall will file today with the SEC an amendment that will set out revised disclosures agreed under the terms of the settlement.