TeeGate
12-06-02, 05:02 PM
Bulk of Ocean Spray lawsuit by N.J. cranberry farmer dismissed
DeMarco Enterprises has been told it can't force the sale of the firm. One count of the suit remains.
By Frank Kummer
Inquirer Staff Writer
A court has dismissed all but one of the complaints in a lawsuit filed by a major Burlington County cranberry grower against Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., the company announced yesterday.
But Chancellor William B. Chandler III said the suit brought by A.R. DeMarco Enterprises of Hammonton could proceed based on one of the claims.
J. Garfield DeMarco, president of A.R. DeMarco Enterprises, said he had not seen the ruling and therefore could not determine its impact.
In a statement, Ocean Spray said the opinion in Delaware's Court of Chancery had dismissed six counts, which included DeMarco's attempts to get an order forcing the sale of the company as well as claims of fraud and claims challenging the board's motives and decision-making in running the company and the election of directors.
The only surviving claim, according to Ocean Spray, is DeMarco's allegation that the company's characterization of a pair of 1999 consultant reports was "misleading."
Ocean Spray said that even if DeMarco, who has all his cranberry bogs in Woodland Township, were to be successful in that claim, his relief would be limited to a "re-vote of a nonbinding shareholder resolution from the 2001 annual meeting."
DeMarco said he would wait until he could digest the full opinion before commenting on the implications. He said his own attorneys, Cozen & O'Connor of Philadelphia, had not yet received the opinion.
"It depends very much on how the opinion is written," DeMarco said. "Until we read this, and the attorneys come back with a good analysis, we can't comment. But certainly the action is still alive - there's no question about it."
Cranberry growers around the nation have been watching the suit to see whether DeMarco's attorneys will be allowed to dig into Ocean Spray's finances. Details of the cooperative's finances do not have to be filed with the Security and Exchange Commission.
Recently, DeMarco surprised the cranberry-growing industry when he announced the sale of 9,400 acres of his land to the nonprofit New Jersey Conservation Foundation for $12 million - half its appraised value.
DeMarco Enterprises has been told it can't force the sale of the firm. One count of the suit remains.
By Frank Kummer
Inquirer Staff Writer
A court has dismissed all but one of the complaints in a lawsuit filed by a major Burlington County cranberry grower against Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., the company announced yesterday.
But Chancellor William B. Chandler III said the suit brought by A.R. DeMarco Enterprises of Hammonton could proceed based on one of the claims.
J. Garfield DeMarco, president of A.R. DeMarco Enterprises, said he had not seen the ruling and therefore could not determine its impact.
In a statement, Ocean Spray said the opinion in Delaware's Court of Chancery had dismissed six counts, which included DeMarco's attempts to get an order forcing the sale of the company as well as claims of fraud and claims challenging the board's motives and decision-making in running the company and the election of directors.
The only surviving claim, according to Ocean Spray, is DeMarco's allegation that the company's characterization of a pair of 1999 consultant reports was "misleading."
Ocean Spray said that even if DeMarco, who has all his cranberry bogs in Woodland Township, were to be successful in that claim, his relief would be limited to a "re-vote of a nonbinding shareholder resolution from the 2001 annual meeting."
DeMarco said he would wait until he could digest the full opinion before commenting on the implications. He said his own attorneys, Cozen & O'Connor of Philadelphia, had not yet received the opinion.
"It depends very much on how the opinion is written," DeMarco said. "Until we read this, and the attorneys come back with a good analysis, we can't comment. But certainly the action is still alive - there's no question about it."
Cranberry growers around the nation have been watching the suit to see whether DeMarco's attorneys will be allowed to dig into Ocean Spray's finances. Details of the cooperative's finances do not have to be filed with the Security and Exchange Commission.
Recently, DeMarco surprised the cranberry-growing industry when he announced the sale of 9,400 acres of his land to the nonprofit New Jersey Conservation Foundation for $12 million - half its appraised value.