Commitments and Contingencies |
3 Months Ended |
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Dec. 31, 2015 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Commitments and Contingencies |
Commitments and Contingencies
Letters of Credit
The Company has outstanding standby letters of credit in the total amount of approximately $13,984,000 and $17,498,500 at December 31, 2015 and September 30, 2015, respectively, to secure its various contractual obligations.
Legal Proceedings
On March 11, 2015, a putative stockholder class action lawsuit captioned Shiva Y. Stein v. Alico, Inc., et al., No. 15-CA-000645 (the “Stein lawsuit”), was filed in the Circuit Court of the Twentieth Judicial District in and for Lee County, Florida, against Alico, Inc. (“Alico”), its current and certain former directors, 734 Citrus Holdings, LLC d/b/a Silver Nip Citrus, 734 Investors, LLC (“734 Investors”), 734 Agriculture, LLC (“734 Agriculture”) and 734 Sub, LLC (“734 Sub”) in connection with the acquisition of Silver Nip by Alico (the “Acquisition”). The complaint alleges that Alico’s directors at the time of the Acquisition, 734 Investors and 734 Agriculture breached fiduciary duties to Alico stockholders in connection with the Acquisition and that Silver Nip and 734 Sub aided and abetted such breaches. The lawsuit seeks, among other things, monetary and equitable relief, costs, fees (including attorneys’ fees) and expenses.
On May 6, 2015, a putative stockholder class action and derivative lawsuit captioned Ruth S. Dimon Trust v. George R. Brokaw, et al., No. 15-CA-001162 (the “Dimon lawsuit”), was filed in the Circuit Court of the Twentieth Judicial District in and for Lee County, Florida, against Alico, its current directors, Silver Nip Citrus, 734 Investors and 734 Agriculture in connection with the Acquisition of Silver Nip Citrus by Alico. The complaint alleges claims for breach of fiduciary duty, gross mismanagement, waste of corporate assets and tortious interference with contract against Alico’s directors, unjust enrichment against three of the directors and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty against Silver Nip Citrus, 734 investors and 734 Agriculture. The lawsuit seeks, among other things, rescission of the Acquisition, an injunction prohibiting certain payments to Silver Nip Citrus members, unspecified damages, disgorgement of profits, costs, fees (including attorneys’ fees) and expenses.
On July 17, 2015, the plaintiffs in the Stein and Dimon lawsuits filed a stipulation and proposed order consolidating their cases for all purposes under the caption, In re Alico, Inc. Shareholder Litigation, Master File No. 15-CA-000645 (the “Consolidated Action”) and seeking the appointment of a lead plaintiff and lead and liaison counsel. The court entered that proposed order on July 21, 2015.
On October 16, 2015, the lead plaintiff in the Consolidated Action reported to the court that the parties reached an agreement in principle to settle the Consolidated Action and other claims related to the Acquisition and that they are in the process of formally documenting their agreements. That process is ongoing and the settlement remains subject to final documentation and court approval following notice to the relevant Alico shareholders. Once the parties have completed the settlement documents, they will contact the court to schedule a hearing at which they will request the court to preliminarily approve the settlement and to set a final settlement hearing date.
From time to time, we may be involved in litigation relating to claims arising out of our operations in the normal course of business. There are no current legal proceedings to which we are a party to or of which any of our property is subject to that we believe will have a material adverse effect on our business financial position or results of operations.
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