Business
HF Foods Files Complaint in US District Court to Protect Stockholders and Employees
HF Foods Takes Legal Action to Stop Group Attempting to Illegally Seize Control of the Company In Response, Group Withdraws Slate of Nominees in Connection
About this update from Hf Foods Group Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"HF Foods Takes Legal Action to Stop Group Attempting to Illegally Seize Control of the Company In Response, Group Withdraws Slate of Nominees in Connection with Annual Meeting LAS VEGAS, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HF Foods Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HFFG), a leading food distributor to Asian restaurants across the United States (“HF Foods” or the “Company”), today announced that it filed a complaint (the “Complaint”) against Maodong Xu, Zhou Min Ni, Fai Lam in his capacity as Trustee of the Irrevocable Trust for Raymond Ni, Weihui Kwok, and Yuanyuan Wu (collectively, the “Xu Group”) in the United States District Court, District of Nevada. The Complaint alleges, among other things, that the Xu Group is attempting to seize control of HF Foods in violation of the federal securities laws through: obfuscating the true identity and purpose of their group as legally required and by filing false and misleading regulatory disclosures with the SEC, and conducting an illegal tender offer that includes strong-arming current HF Foods stockholders into selling their Company shares in violation of the Williams Act of 1968. The Complaint details evidence that the Xu Group has engaged in a coordinated, illegal, and undisclosed campaign to take over the Company, starting from October 2022, if not earlier. This campaign has included Mr. Xu conducting a series of meetings with, and outreach to, HF Foods stockholders, in which he has represented, among other things, that he has agreements in place that give him control of the Company, stated his intention to become CEO or Chairman of the Company and pressured stockholders to sell their Company shares for cash or stock in a Maodong Xu affiliated company. These meetings and outreach have continued to the present time. Mr. Xu has been banned by Chinese regulators from participation in Chinese public markets due to a history of market manipulation and corporate asset stripping, and is being pursued by stockholders and creditors from China through U.S. courts. The Company is deeply concerned he is employing the same tactics and strategy in his illicit efforts at creeping control of HF Foods, to the detriment of the Company and all stakeholders, including our stockholders, employees and partners. The Complaint, which was filed on May 11, 2023, included an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order ...