8, 2019 through August 12, 2019. The case relates to the Animal Health Spin-off and Merger of the Henry Schein
Animal Health Business with Vets First Choice in February 2019. The complaint alleges violations of Sections
10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act and SEC Rule 10b-5 and asserts that defendants’ statements in the offering
documents and after the transaction were materially false and misleading
because they purportedly overstated
Covetrus’s capabilities as to inventory management and supply-chain services, understated the costs of integrating
the Henry Schein Animal Health Business and Vets First Choice, understated Covetrus’s separation costs from
Henry Schein, and understated the impact on earnings from online competition
and alternative distribution channels
and from the loss of an allegedly large customer in North America just before the Separation and
Merger.
The
complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
Pursuant to the provisions of the PSLRA, the court
appointed lead plaintiff and lead counsel on December 23, 2019.
Lead plaintiff filed a Consolidated Class Action
Complaint on February 21, 2020.
Lead plaintiff added Steve Paladino, our Chief Financial Officer, as a defendant
in the action.
Lead plaintiff filed an Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint on May 21, 2020,
in which it
added a claim that Mr. Paladino is a “control person” of Covetrus.
We intend to defend ourselves vigorously
against this action.
On
November 15, 2019
,
Frank Finazzo
filed a putative shareholder derivative action on behalf of Henry
Schein,
Inc. against various present and former directors and officers of Henry Schein in
the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of New York, Case No. 1:19-cv-6485-LDH-JO.
The named defendants in the action were Stanley
M. Bergman, Steven Paladino, Timothy J. Sullivan, Barry J. Alperin, Lawrence S. Bacow, Gerald A. Benjamin,
James P. Breslawski, Paul Brons, Shira Goodman, Joseph L. Herring, Donald J. Kabat, Kurt Kuehn, Philip A.
Laskawy, Anne H. Margulies, Karyn Mashima, Norman S. Matthews, Mark E. Mlotek, Carol Raphael, E. Dianne
Rekow, Bradley T. Sheares, and Louis W. Sullivan, with Henry Schein named as a nominal defendant.
Complaint asserted claims under the federal securities laws and state law
relating to the allegations in the antitrust
actions, the In re Henry Schein, Inc. Securities Litigation, and the City of Hollywood
securities class action
described in our prior filings with the SEC and/or above.
The complaint sought declaratory, injunctive, and
monetary relief on behalf of Henry Schein.
On January 6, 2020, one of the two law firms that filed the Finazzo
case filed another, virtually identical putative shareholder derivative action on behalf of Henry Schein
against the
same defendants, asserting the same claims and seeking the same relief.
That case, captioned Mark Sloan v.
Stanley M. Bergman, et al., was also filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of New York, Case No.
1:20-cv-0076.
On January 24, 2020, the court consolidated the Finazzo and Sloan
cases under the new caption In
re Henry Schein, Inc. Derivative Litigation, No. 1:19-cv-06485-LDH-JO, and appointed the
two law firms that filed
the Finazzo case as co-lead counsel for the consolidated action.
The parties agreed to a resolution of this matter
subject to various conditions, including court approval.
The settlement involves the adoption of certain procedures
but does not involve the payment of any money except a fee to the
plaintiffs’ attorneys that is immaterial.
After the
court referred the motion to approve the settlement to a Magistrate Judge,
the parties consented to having the case
assigned to the Magistrate Judge for all purposes.
The Magistrate Judge to which the matter was ultimately
assigned held a fairness hearing and issued an order and judgment approving
the settlement.
The order and
judgment approving the settlement have become final.
On February 5, 2021, Jack Garnsey filed a putative shareholder derivative
action on behalf of Covetrus, Inc. in the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, naming as defendants Benjamin Shaw, Christine T.
Komola, Steven Paladino, Betsy Atkins, Deborah G. Ellinger, Sandra L. Helton, Philip A. Laskaway, Mark J.
Manoff, Edward M. McNamara, Ravi Sachdev, David E. Shaw, Benjamin Wolin,
and Henry Schein, Inc., with
Covetrus, Inc. named as a nominal defendant.
The complaint alleges that the individual defendants breached
their
fiduciary duties under state law in connection with the same allegations
asserted in the City of Hollywood securities
class action described above and further alleges that Henry Schein aided
and abetted such breaches. The complaint
also asserts claims for contribution under the federal securities laws against
Henry Schein and other defendants,
also arising out of the allegations in the City of Hollywood lawsuit.
The complaint seeks declaratory, injunctive,
and monetary relief. We intend to defend ourselves vigorously against this action.
From time to time, we may become a party to other legal proceedings,
including, without limitation, product
liability claims, employment matters, commercial disputes, governmental
inquiries and investigations (which may