Pennsylvania District Court Limits Claims In Putative Class Action Concerning Walgreens–Rite Aid Merger

On July 11, 2018, Judge John E. Jones III of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed certain claims in a putative securities fraud class action against Rite Aid Corporation and Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.  Plaintiff brought claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act, alleging that Rite Aid, Walgreens, and certain executives at each company made various misstatements over the course of the failed merger between the two companies, which was announced in October 2015 and ultimately terminated in June 2017.  Hering v. Rite Aid Corp., —F. Supp. 3d—, 2018 WL 3373033 (M.D. Pa. July 11, 2018).  The Court held that the majority of the alleged misstatements were optimistic forward-looking statements that were immaterial and/or protected by the safe harbor provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, but that certain statements by the Walgreens defendants expressing confidence that the