Blackhawk Network CEO Sold It Out to Private Equity, Suit Says

The chairman and CEO of Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. were hit with a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit claiming they dodged activist pressure by letting “friendly” private equity firms buy the gift card company on the cheap.

“In short, they sold out the stockholders,” the suit says.

It challenges Blackhawk’s $3.6 billion go-private buyout last year by Silver Lake Partners V LP, P2 Capital Partners LLC, and affiliates. CEO Talbott Roche and board chairman William Y. Tauscher arranged the deal to avoid a looming proxy fight with Jana Partners LLC, the hedge fund run by activist investor Barry Rosenstein, the suit ...