Activists targeting AIM ImmunoTech have lost their bid to force the company to accept their director nominees ahead of a November 3 shareholder vote.
Jonathan Jorgl initiated legal action against AIM in late July in the Delaware courts over the company’s decision to invalidate his two director nominees Michael Rice and Robert Chioini.
The company argued the nominations were invalid because the activists failed to disclose that Jorgl, along with Rice and Chioini, was acting in conjunction with shareholder Franz Tudor, who had previously been convicted of insider trading, and Michael Xirinachs, who recently pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
The Delaware Court of Chancery agreed, denying Jorgl’s motion for an injunction requiring the board to accept his director nominations.
“If such arrangements or understandings were concealed, the sanctity of the stockholder franchise would not be furthered by this court invalidating the board’s actions,” the court wrote. “In that case, those working through Jorgl—not the board—would be the ones engaging in manipulative conduct.”
AIM ImmunoTech stock was trading at $0.55 per share Monday morning, up 1.9%.