SVPGlobal Loses Bid to End Investor Suit Over REIT Squeeze-Out

Strategic Value Partners LLC must face litigation led by funds that claim they were unfairly squeezed out of a real estate investment trust it controls, Washington Prime Group LLC, a Delaware judge ruled Wednesday.

Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster let the case move forward with shareholder claims against the REIT, members of its board and management, and Strategic Value, also known as SVPGlobal. It’s plausible they took unfair shortcuts in the run-up to the transaction, breached WPG’s operating agreement, made misleading disclosures, and underpaid, the judge sad.

The allegations support “a reasonable inference that each defendant intentionally pursued a scheme ...