Lawsuit claims Falcone swept in to steal steel deal

Phil Falcone’s controversial move to take a steel-fabrication firm private has landed him in court.

A shareholder suit that see൲ks class-action status charges that the board of Schuff International — whose projects in🌱clude the new Apple headquarters — allowed Falcone’s firm HC2 to buy the company on the cheap.

The suit, filed Nov. 6 in Delaware Chancery Court, alleges that a specꦉial committee designated by Schuff’s board to examine HC2’s takeover offer was a sham.

“The special committee did nothing,” the suit alleged. “The special committee did not conduct a process. The special committee did not attempt to negotiate a higher price. The special committee did not consider alternatives.”

Falcone — who ꦦin an unusual arrangement had become chairman of Schuff after amassing a 70 percent stake, even as the firm’s board weighed a takeover bid by his firm HC2 — declined to comment Monday.

HC2’s tender for Schuff’s remaining shares at $31.50 a share was “well below the company’s intrinsic value,” a💜ccording to the suit. Noting that Schuff recently landed a big construction project, the suit cited analyst reports valuing Schuff shares conservatively at $39.

Furthermore, according to the suit, HC2 on Oct. 29 bought a 65,000-share slug of Schuff on the open market at $34 — a h💝ealthy premium to its tender offer — in order to surpass a 90 percent ownership stake, which under Delaware law gives it the right to buy the company’s remaining shares.

“Plaintiffﷺ observed this volume and pricing information,” but it was subsequently scrubbed from services including Nasdaq, Yahoo and OTC Markets, according to the suit.

The su💯it even took a direct swipe at Falcone, charging he has “a well-documented history with the SEC’s enforcement division.”

It cited a 2013 settlement in which Falcone “admitted to using investor money to pay his own taxes, secretly favoring some customers over ꦡothers, and engaging in an illegal market manipulation.”