A recently-unsealed lawsuit showcases the aftermath of a failed deal between Phillips 66 and Sacramento-based Propel Fuels.
Propel Fuels’ lawsuit, filed in February in Alameda County, California but unsealed this week, alleges Phillips 66 misappropriated Propel’s trade secrets days after backing out of a deal to acquire Propel in 2018. The trade secrets Phillips 66 misappropriated, the lawsuit alleges, included proprietary information Propel disclosed during the failed transaction’s due diligence period that equipped Phillips 66 with how to build a renewable fuels business — the very thing it would have achieved through acquiring Propel.
Phillips 66 hired Bay Area lawyers from Latham & Watkins to defend it in the litigation, including San Francisco lawyers Margaret Tough, Julianne Osborne, Benjamin Stollman and Menlo Park lawyer Jeffrey Homrig.
Propel Fuels’ lawyers are Michael Ng, Daniel Zaheer and Zachary Ritz of Kobre & Kim’s San Francisco and Miami offices.
For more details about the case, check out the Houston Chronicle’s report here.