A class-action shareholder lawsuit filed in Delaware blames Molson Coors Brewing Co. management for a $14.30 plunge in the company’s stock price April 28.
The suit, filed Friday by class-action powerhouse Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, claims Molson Inc. and Adolph Coors Co. misled investors before their merger Feb. 9.
On April 28, Molson Coors reported a $46.5 million first-quarter loss it attributed to weak sales and $30 million in severance pay to departing executives. The loss amounted to 74 cents per share.
Wall Street analysts had forecast a 36-cent-per-share profit. The stock fell 19 percent to close at $63.
“At the time of the merger … Coors was not operating according to plan and had experienced material adverse changes in its business,” the suit claims.
The companies concealed these changes, the suit continues, “because it enabled them to effectuate the merger in a manner that allowed the relatives and heirs of the Coors (and) Molson families to dominate the combined company.”
A representative of Molson Coors did not return a phone call Monday.
Staff writer Greg Griffin can be reached at 303-820-1241 or ggriffin@denverpost.com.
