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Aborted Marketing Merger Leads to LawsuitLock Icon

1 min read

A prospective merger that failed between two retail sales and marketing firms has landed in Benton County Circuit Court.

Tightrope Ventures LLC of Bentonville, led by Melanie Merkling, filed suit for breach of contract and requested a temporary restraining order earlier this month against national account manager Steve Grife of Superior Sales & Marketing, which was also named a defendant.

In the suit, filed by attorney D. Westbrook Doss Jr. of Fayetteville, Tightrope said it entered a non-disclosure agreement with Superior in April in preparation for a possible merger but, when the merger didn’t happen, Grife began using Tightrope’s confidential information in violation of the NDA.

Grife said he was aware of the lawsuit but didn’t have any comment. Grife is also a managing member of Superior and is listed as the owner on LinkedIn.

Tightrope shared its confidential customer and sales information to Superior. The suit said Grife offered to buy Tightrope’s customer list, but Merkling declined the offer.

The lawsuit alleged that Grife began to use the confidential list to woo Tightrope’s customers and “misrepresent” Tightrope’s relationship with Walmart Inc. of Bentonville.

Tightrope asked for a temporary restraining order to prevent Grife from further contacting its customers. In addition to breach of contract and business interference allegations, Tightrope said Grife has made defamatory statements about Tightrope in order to win over customers.

Tightrope is asking for compensatory and punitive damages from Grife.

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