Jefferies Ordered to Face Lawsuit Over EV Startup’s SPAC Merger

Jefferies LLC lost its bid Tuesday to escape litigation challenging the blank-check merger that took Electric Last Mile Solutions Inc. public before its collapse into bankruptcy.

A Delaware Chancery Court judge let the case move forward against the investment bank, which advised the transaction’s architects. The judge, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick, previously advanced related claims against the electric vehicle startup’s founders, Jason Luo and James Taylor, who resigned over misconduct allegations in 2022.

McCormick acknowledged that recent rulings from Delaware’s top court imposed a high bar for aiding and abetting claims in the merger disclosure context. But while ...