Asbury Carbons Acquisition Spurs Suit Over Employee Stock Plan

Mill Rock Capital’s recent acquisition of Asbury Carbons Inc. for $93 million benefited Asbury’s founding family members while causing the company’s workers to see a steep drop in the value of their retirement benefits, a new lawsuit claims.

The proposed class action challenges a March transaction in which the private equity firm Mill Rock purchased all of Asbury’s outstanding stock from Asbury’s employee stock ownership plan—which previously owned nearly 20% of the company—and from members of the company founder’s family, which held the remaining shares.

Asbury employees Lance Miller and Larry Richardson claim the $93 million purchase price was far ...