Alerus Sued Over Tree Company’s Sale From Employee Stock Plan

Alerus Financial NA is in the crosshairs of a new lawsuit claiming employees of tree care company Arborwell Inc. got a bad deal when their shares in an employee stock ownership plan were sold to CI Quercus.

The eight-count lawsuit, filed Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, challenges a 2020 transaction in which lawn care holding company CI Quercus purchased 100% of Arborwell’s equity from the employee stock ownership plan for about $34 million in a deal overseen by Alerus.

The stock plan’s participants received less than $11 million of the purchase price, ...