MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 16, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. filed a class action lawsuit against Johnson Controls Inc. (“JCI”), and certain individuals, officers and directors associated with JCI in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Case No. 2:16-cv-01093-NJ), on behalf of JCI shareholders who held their shares in taxable accounts and will be injured by the capital gains taxes and other taxes that they will be forced to pay as a result of the merger; and on behalf of all JCI shareholders who will be injured by dilution as a result of the merger, for violations of §§ 14(a) and 20 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 14a-9 promulgated thereunder.
The Complaint alleges that in pursuing the merger, each of the Defendants have violated, and will continue to violate, applicable law by breaching and/or aiding and abetting the other Defendants’ breaches of their fiduciary duties of due care, disclosure, good faith, loyalty, and fair dealing and by engaging in other wrongful conduct under federal and Wisconsin statutory and common law.
The Complaint seeks to compel Defendants to comply with the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), to determine and disclose whether JCI or the JCI shareholders are to pay the merger-dependent taxes required by the IRC, and, if the latter, to require JCI to pay damages to those JCI shareholders forced to pay for JCI’s merger, and to disclose Defendants’ scheme to protect themselves from merger-related taxes by diluting JCI shareholders’ equity interest after the merger.
If you are a JCI shareholder affected by either the capital gains taxes or the dilution, you may move the Court to serve as a lead plaintiff for the Class on or before October 17, 2016. You do not need to be a lead plaintiff in order to share in any recovery that may be obtained.
If you have any questions concerning this notice or your rights with respect to this matter, please contact:
Vernon J. Vander Weide, Esq. (vjvanderweide@locklaw.com) Gregg M. Fishbein, Esq. (gmfishbein@locklaw.com) Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. 100 Washington Avenue South, Suite 2200 Minneapolis, MN 55401 (612) 339-6900
