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A federal judge in Delaware has ruled in favor of a firm seeking assurance that it will be able to sell its minority stake in the parent company of former president Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0Truth Social platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n The judge on Friday granted summary judgment to Florida-based United Atlantic Ventures LLC in a lawsuit filed against Minnesota-based Odyssey Transfer and Trust Co., a business that handles securities transfers among registered shareholders<\/a>.<\/p>\n UAV is owned by Andrew Litinsky and Wesley Moss, former contestants on Trump\u2019s TV show, \u201cThe Apprentice\u201d who also helped facilitate a merger that\u00a0took Trump Media public\u00a0in March.<\/p>\n Since then, UAV and Trump Media have\u00a0been battling in courts<\/a>\u00a0in both Delaware and Florida over UAV\u2019s stake in the company. Attorneys for Trump Media assured a state judge in Delaware earlier this year that UAV was entitled to an 8.6% stake and would suffer no merger-related dilution. They now contend, however, that UAV is not entitled to its shares because of pre-merger mismanagement by Litinsky and Moss.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s ruling involves UAV\u2019s concerns that it will not receive its Trump Media shares, currently valued at about $350 million, from Odyssey when a post-merger lockup period expires Sept. 19. According to court filings, Odyssey told UAV earlier this year that it would be taking direction from TMTG and its lawyers.<\/p>\n After Odyssey filed a lawsuit, the parties appeared to have reached a resolution, with Odyssey saying it would remove transfer restrictions on the share after the lockup period expires \u201cwithout preference to any TMTG shareholder.\u201d After seeking approval from Trump Media, however, Odyssey tried to change that language to \u201con the same basis as other similarly situated TMTG shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump holds about 115 million TMTG shares, or roughly 60% of the company\u2019s outstanding shares.<\/p>\n U.S. District Judge Gregory Williams questioned Odyssey\u2019s conduct, noting that it claimed the language change was \u201cimmaterial,\u201d while allowing it to scuttle settlement negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cEven outside settlement negotiations, Odyssey\u2019s conduct has been elusive,\u201d Williams wrote.<\/p>\n Williams ordered that when Odyssey is notified by TMTG of the expiration of the lockup provisions, it must promptly notify UAV, remove transfer restrictions on all shares and not interfere with the delivery of the shares.<\/p>\n TMTG\u2019s\u00a0share price<\/a>\u00a0hit a high of $79.38 on its first day of trading but is now hovering around $17, closing Friday at $17.10.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended reading:<\/strong>
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