A shareholder of Ancestry.com sued the leading family-history website claiming that that they were cheated by the company in the proposed $1.6bn acquisition by Permira Advisers.
An investor John Heck has filed a complaint in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington, US that the company is paying less to the shareholders.
The London based private equity firm Permira had agreed to pay $32 per share for Ancestry.com in 22nd October, which is said to be 41% higher than Ancestry.com’s closing share price on 5th June 5, the day the company engaged a financial advisor for the possible sale.
John Heck was quoted by Businessweek as saying that, "The consideration shareholders will receive is inadequate" and they "are being unfairly cashed-out" given the company’s recent performance.
Heck has also requested the Delaware Chancery Court to block the sale and consider giving damages and legal fees.
Earlier this month, the US based genealogy website Ancestry.com had disclosed that it will be sold to to Permira in a $1.6bn.
Ancestry.com is said to have more than 2 million subscribers, with 39 million family trees and about 4 billion profiles which allows users to track family histories.
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Earlier this year, Ancestry.com had agreed to acquire Archives.com, a family history website, for $100m in cash and assumed liabilities.
