AmerisourceBergen had agreed to acquire Bridge Medical Inc. for an initial payment of $27 million dollars, and further agreed to an "earn-out to be paid to former Bridge shareholders contingent upon certain EBITA [earnings before interest, tax and amortization] targets being met over a two year period. Plaintiff insist that defendant provided lukewarm support for their operations and did everything possible to avoid having to pay merger consideration contingent on the success of plaintiffs former firm. Defendant blames plaintiffs woes upon plaintiffs lack of long-term planning, inconsistency between plaintiffs strategies and actions, and an inability to cope with market changes. Plaintiffs now seek damages in response to defendants alleged breaches of contract.
Chandler ordered ABC to pay plaintiffs $21 million arising from ABC's miscalculations of the earn-out.