Ramaswamy cites campaign duties as excuse to skip deposition over major buyout

Multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is leaning on his packed campaign schedule in a bid to wriggle out of sitting for a deposition in a bitter corporate buyout case.

Investment management firm Alpine Partners proposed to subpoena Ramaswamy in June for testimony in a federal lawsuit raising concerns it and other investors may have been shortchanged in a deal finalized this past March.

The agreement in question is the $1.7 billion acquisition of Myovant Sciences Ltd., a subsidiary of Ramaswamy’s Roivant Sciences specializing in drugs for women’s health, by Sumitovant Biopharma — a holding company formed in 2019 by the merger of Roivant and Japan-based Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma.

Shareholders in Myovant initiated court proceedings in Bermuda and demanded Ramaswamy explain how he arrived at the valuation of the Myovant shares.

“As a candidate for President of the United States, I must frequently travel across the United States to campaign, make speeches, give media interviews, and meet with voters,” Ramaswamy responded in a July 27 filing in Ohio’s Southern District, first reported by DailyMail.com.

“The subpoena request and resulting discovery would therefore constitute an undue burden and will materially affect my ability to run for higher office,” he added.

The 38-year-old stepped down from the board of both Roivant Sciences and Sumitovant Biopharma to mount his presidential bid.

Alpine formerly held a roughly 6.6% stake in Myovant, and the firm’s lawyers are also calling for documents they believe can buttress their case.

“This problem is exacerbated by the fact that I do not believe I have any material knowledge of the transaction that is the basis of the underlying appraisal proceeding,” Ramaswamy added in his July filing.

His legal team also ripped the subpoena bid as an effort to “to harass him.”

But attorneys for his former investors counter that he “voted to approve the merger agreement and likely would have engaged in discussions related to negotiation of the merger, including the merger price.”

The matter is still pending, and the Ramaswamy campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ramaswamy, who sparked buzz with his performance in the first Republican primary debate last week, is currently polling in third place in the 2024 GOP field, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average.

A political outsider, Ramaswamy’s net worth is pegged at over $950 million by Forbes.

The Ohio native is far from the only 2024 hopeful ensnared in legal drama. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is facing 91 criminal counts spanning four indictments, and has denied wrongdoing in every case.