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Blue Apron shareholders file lawsuits alleging investors were misled

Image Credit: Blue Apron

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Blue Apron’s post-IPO woes continue. The meal-kit delivery company has been hit with multiple shareholder lawsuits this month, all alleging it made misleading statements in its IPO prospectus.

The various complaints echo each other in their allegations against Blue Apron, its CEO, CFO, and directors, as well as underwriters of the IPO. Namely, the suits allege that the prospectus Blue Apron filed ahead of its IPO contained false statements, while omitting material facts.

In particular, the complaints revolve around allegations that Blue Apron did not disclose delays at a new fulfillment center in New Jersey, which the company disclosed when it reported earnings earlier this month. The complaint also alleges that Blue Apron was  aware of Amazon’s plans to enter the meal-delivery business and that the company didn’t warn of a planned decrease in ad spending in the second half of 2017, which could drag down its revenue growth.

One lawsuit was filed by Ahmed Chaudhry of Dallas, Texas, who bought 10,000 shares of Blue Apron stock at $10.25 a share on its first day of trading. Another was filed in New York by Rustem Nurlybayev, who was also listed as a plaintiff in a shareholder lawsuit filed against Alibaba in 2016. Other law firms have sent out press releases seeking Blue Apron shareholders interested in joining the class action lawsuits.

After closing on its first day of trading at $10 a share, Blue Apron has steadily declined, closing at $5.24 a share Monday, or 48 percent below its offering price.

Last week, Jana Partners, an activist investor that previously took on Whole Foods, disclosed that it had taken a 2 percent stake in Blue Apron, signaling it may take on the company. On Friday, Stifel Nicolaus, an underwriter in the IPO, lowered its rating on the stock from Buy to Hold.

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