FHP Founder, Former Holders File Suit Over Merger

Robert Gumbiner, founder of the former FHP International Corp., and other former company shareholders filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday that accuses the managed-care company’s former executives of misleading them about terms of FHP’s recent merger with PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that FHP officers and directors persuaded shareholders to accept an inadequate and unfair price for their stock in the merger. In seeking unspecified damages, Gumbiner and the other plaintiffs claim FHP had devalued a key asset--its Talbert medical group.

The defendants couldn’t be reached for comment.