Two years ago, when the legendary furniture manufacturer Herman Miller bought the once-troubled retailer Design Within Reach, it was largely seen as a triumph in the world of high-end furniture. Now, as the New York Times reports, a lawsuit against the Herman Miller claims that the $154 million merger never actually happened.
The lawsuit was brought by two of the company's shareholders, Andrew Franklin, president of the investment firm UTR, and Charles Almond, who claim that they lost money in the merger. But the details of the case uncovered something much larger: the accusation that, because of a series of technical mistakes, the merger is invalid.