FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mercer Law and Bondurant Settle First-of-Its-Kind Fiduciary-Duty

de-SPAC Litigation Brought in Bankruptcy Court

Wilmington, DE (December 18, 2025) — Mercer Law LLC and Bondurant

Mixson & Elmore LLP announce court approval of a $3.5 million settlement

resolving claims against an investment banking firm involved in Clarus

Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.’s de-SPAC transaction. The settlement was

reached after an all-day mediation conducted by former Delaware Chancellor

Andre Bouchard.

This settlement follows an earlier directors & officers policy-limits settlement

with the SPAC’s former directors and officers—two recoveries that together

represent the first fiduciary-duty settlements achieved in a de-SPAC case

litigated in bankruptcy court.

“Bondurant and Mercer Law have together advanced an insightful and

complex set of claims with precision and professionalism. Their hard work

and coordinated efforts have brought about these settlements,” said Ted

Gavin, CTP, NCPM, managing director and founding partner of

Gavin/Solmonese LLC, plan administrator of the Clarus Creditors’ Trust.

This litigation is notable among de-SPAC cases. While numerous failed de-

SPAC transactions have resulted in bankruptcy filings and spawned

shareholder litigation in the Court of Chancery following In re Multiplan

Corp. Stockholders Litigation, 268 A.3d 784 (Del. Ch. 2022), this case is the

first time a bankruptcy fiduciary has asserted fiduciary-duty claims in

bankruptcy court arising out of a de-SPAC transaction.

The litigation has also produced significant rulings on an important privilege

issue. After parties questioned the plan administrator’s ownership and

control of the debtors’ privileges based on language in the de-SPAC

transaction’s merger agreement that purported to give exclusive control of

the privilege to the SPAC’s sponsor, rather than the SPAC, the plan

administrator sought a declaratory judgment to resolve the dispute. The

bankruptcy court ruled in the plan administrator’s favor, holding that it

exclusively owns and controls the debtors’ privileges.

The court later enforced that ruling under the Federal Declaratory Judgment

Act against the SPAC’s former law firm—one of the rare instances in which a

bankruptcy court has entered an injunction based on an earlier declaratory

judgment.

“We appreciate the opportunity to work with this talented team of lawyers

and professionals on behalf of the Plan Administrator for the Creditor Trust.

This case stands for the common-sense proposition that a bankruptcy does

not change the fact that directors of SPACs are held to the same duties of

loyalty and care as directors of all publicly held companies, and the conflicts

inherent in SPACs that are recognized in Multiplan must be addressed in

disclosures and the process for approval of deSPAC transactions,” said David

Brackett, Partner at Bondurant, Mixson and Elmore, LLP.

“This $3.5 million settlement represents another meaningful step in the plan

administrator’s efforts to recover losses tied to conflicted fiduciary conduct.

We are proud to have worked alongside such outstanding lawyers and

professionals. The team remains committed to seeing this case through—

pursuing accountability and seeking the best possible recovery for the

creditor trust,” said Robert Mercer, Partner at Mercer Law LLC.

Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP and Mercer Law LLC serve as co-lead

counsel.

Gellert Scali Busenkell & Brown, LLC serves as Delaware counsel.

Gavin/Solmonese LLC serves as the plan administrator.