First West Virginia Bancorp Inc., its board members and would-be acquirer are being sued over an alleged breach of fiduciary duty.
Purported First West Virginia stockholder Paul Parshall claims that the Wheeling, W.Va.-based target is undervalued by the terms of its merger into Carmichaels, Pa.-based CB Financial Services Inc. Their cash-and-stock transaction was valued at $49.0 million when it was announced in November 2017.
Parshall also claims that material information was omitted from First West Virginia's proxy statement. He seeks preliminary and permanent injunction against the acquisition, as well as damages. The defendants believe Parshall's case is without merit and say they will "defend against it vigorously."
The putative class action lawsuit, Parshall v. First West Virginia Bancorp Inc. et al., was filed March 22 in the Circuit Court of Ohio County, W.Va.