Westar Energy’s $12.2 billion sale to Great Plains Energy Inc. cleared legal hurdles on Wednesday as litigants agreed to resolve their cases, according to a Topeka Capital-Journal report.
A new Securities and Exchange Commission filing revealed that one Missouri and two Kansas legal challenges will be dropped.
The first Kansas case was filed on July 5 alleging Westar Energy’s board of directors failed to obtain the best price for shareholders due to a process that discouraged third parties from submitting potentially superior proposals.
The second Kansas complaint was filed on July 25 alleging the merger was slanted toward Great Plains shareholders thus depriving Westar Energy’s shareholders of fair consideration.
The third legal action was filed in Missouri on July 19 alleging Great Plains failed to disclose specific data in a previous filing.
The lawsuits were the only legal challenges the sale faced before the shareholders’ vote.
The Westar Energy shareholder meeting will be Monday, September 26, 2016 at 10 a.m. at the Kansas Expocentre. The Great Plains shareholder meeting will be held the same day at the company’s Kansas City, Missouri office located at 1200 Main Street.
Topeka will remain the headquarters for Kansas services.
Westar and GPE still face an extensive review of the acquisition by the Kansas Corporation Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency and many other regulatory agencies.