Prior to the filing of the lawsuit in 2014, it looked like Promega was on its way to becoming a publicly traded company until Linton announced his plan to celebrate the company’s centennial as a privately owned company. A couple years later, Nathan F. Brand, Nathan S. Brand, and Ted Kellner, longtime shareholders of the company, sued both Promega and Linton, alleging Linton had used threats, lies, and manipulation to gain majority control of the company. The lawsuit further alleged Linton was aiming to transfer his controlling shares of the company to Usona Institute, a research institute found by Linton.

Linton countersued with allegations of fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering. His lawsuit claimed the shareholders were attempting a sort of coup to take control of the company away from him.

The case went to trial, and after three weeks the judge overseeing the case said it was likely she would conclude the company’s minority shareholders had been oppressed by both Linton and the company. That announcement might have encouraged Promega and Linton to reach a settlement agreement with their minority shareholders.

The two sides agreed that the price of Promega’s shares had increased since the lawsuit was first filed back in 2014, but they had disagreed about which price point to use when buying back the shares from minority investors. Attorneys for the investors argued the price should be the current value of the stocks, while attorneys for Promega and Linton argued the price should be the value of the stocks at the time the shareholders filed the lawsuit.

Which price point was used (or whether they agreed on a price somewhere in the middle) has not been made public.