Alliant National Title CEO claims private equity firm tried to force him out of company

LONGMONT— Bob Grubb, the CEO of Alliant National Title Insurance Co., claims a private equity firm forced him out of the company’s leadership role last year and delayed negotiations to prevent him from getting a lucrative severance package.

Grubb co-founded Alliant in 2005 to sell title insurance, a form of protection to cover against financial losses if a property that’s been sold is later found to have a forgery, filing error or an undisclosed claim. 

Alliant, which is based in Longmont, provides title insurance in 24 states and the District of Columbia to independent agents.

In a complaint to the U.S. District Court of Colorado, Alliant agreed in 2008 to sell ownership to Presidio Investors, a private equity firm with offices in Oakland, California and Austin, Texas. Shortly after, three Presidio employees were named to Alliant’s five-person board.

Grubb claims he rolled over $1.1 million of his $2.2 million equity in Alliant as part of the sale and agreed to a two-year contract as CEO, which expires at the end of this month. The complaint alleges that the contract could be renewed by a year at a time and required a 60-day notice of termination.

However, Grubb claims he was told in September 2019 that he was being replaced as CEO effective immediately and was asked by the private equity firm to empty his office without prior notice.

He allegedly was demoted to a lesser position and was offered the opportunity to give up his rights to resign in exchange for keeping his health-care benefits, a buy-down of his equity and other financial benefits.

Grubb was offered this deal last October but alleges that Presidio staffers negotiated with him with no intention of ever actually agreeing to a new work agreement. Victor Masaya, the firm’s managing director, allegedly stopped responding to Grubb altogether in the spring.

The suit then alleges Masaya sent Grubb a termination letter last May, claiming that he had the authority to act on behalf of the greater board and, because so much time had passed, Grubb was no longer eligible to resign with a larger severance package.

Grubb is asking for a jury trial to award an undefined amount of damages to him, along with attorney’s fees and other awards as deemed proper.

Neither Grubb nor Presidio Investors responded to a request for comment Monday.

© 2020 BizWest Media LLC

on Facebook on LinkedIn