A federal judge in California quashed a bid by Merit Medical to dismiss a lawsuit alleging misrepresentation of success to stockholders.
The consolidated class action complaint states two claims for securities fraud, alleging that Merit CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos and CFO Raul Parra, plus the company itself, made multiple misrepresentations to investors that resulted in substantial losses to members of the class, according to court documents.
The stockholders claim Merit made false statements regarding its acquisitions of Cianna (a $200 million deal in October 2018) and Vascular Insights (a $60 million deal two months later). Those statements were allegedly made during investor calls and in press releases, along with SEC forms and letters to investors in February, March, April and July of 2019.
Plaintiffs claimed that Merit misrepresented the success of the transition and integration with Cianna, including product sales numbers and the status of Cianna̵…