PE Merida’s Lender Dispute Sent to Florida for Arbitration Bid

Merida Capital Partners III LP’s claim that an arbitration clause was part of a “secret plan to breach the whole contract” at the center of a spat with an investment firm doesn’t stand up to a Second Circuit standard, Judge Jeannette A. Vargas said Wednesday. The threshold requires Merida demonstrate a substantial relationship between any misrepresentation and the arbitration clause itself.

• The US District Court for the Southern District of New York judge said she can’t compel arbitration in their agreement’s chosen forum of Fort Lauderdale, so she granted Pacific Lion LLC, founder Jacob Fernane, and another one of his ...