Judge refused to grant Henley injunction.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Jack R. Levitt refused to grant a preliminary injunction to a group of dissident Henley Group Inc. shareholders who filed suit in October to block a $107 million stock purchase program for top Henley executives. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs led by Henley shareholder David Grobow of New Jersey also lost a motion for certification of the complaint as a class action. But the judge refused a motion by Henley attorneys to have the lawsuit dismissed. The lawsuit will now work its way through the courts. A trial date is at least two years away, Henley attorney Robert Steiner said Tuesday. Last October, the Henley board approved the stock purchase plan by which 25 Henley executives could buy 5.1-million Henley shares at $21.25 per share, putting up only 10% of the purchase price in cash. The rest of the stock purchase would be financed by Henley with non-recourse loans bearing 6.5% interest. The stock purchase plan was approved by Henley shareholders in November. Grobow filed suit in October claiming the favorable terms for the executives’ stock buys constituted a “waste of corporate assets and a breach of fiduciary duty.” Henley Group Chairman Michael Dingman said terms of the stock purchase were similar to those made available to top managers involved in leveraged buy-outs, a corporate entity he has frequently compared Henley with.