An M&A Cautionary Tale:
Daniel Zaheer and Michael Ng Discuss the Propel Victory
Thursday, July 31, 2025
5:00 PM
Kobre & Kim
150 California Street, Floor 19
San Francisco, CA 94111
As reported by IAM, the $604.9 million jury verdict Kobre & Kim obtained on behalf of Propel Fuels in its trade secrets misappropriation case against Phillips 66 is a mergers and acquisitions cautionary tale.
After a five-week trial a California jury found that Phillips 66’s renewable fuels business was developed using trade secrets willfully and maliciously misappropriated during an acquisition process that ultimately collapsed.
“This case should serve as a stark reminder for industry majors – especially those in new energy fields like biofuels – to exercise extreme caution in any instance in which they have been provided access to trade secrets of an industry pioneer,” shared Kobre & Kim’s Daniel Zaheer, trial team lead alongside Michael Ng.
On October 16, 2024, the jury found that Phillips 66’s renewable fuels business was developed using Propel’s trade secrets in violation of California’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act and awarded unjust enrichment damages totaling US $604.9 million. The jury also found Phillips 66’s misappropriation willful and malicious, meaning the Court may triple the total damages award. The verdict follows more than two years of pretrial proceedings and a trial that featured voluminous evidence and testimony from 31 witnesses, including ten expert witnesses.
In an interview with Law.com about the verdict, trial team leads Michael Ng and Daniel Zaheer of Kobre & Kim said: “Propel did what many innovators cannot do—it stood up to a much larger adversary and persevered through a long process to vindicate its rights.”
You are warmly invited to a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception hosted by HLSA of NorCal and Kobre & Kim preceding this engaging discussion.
For security purposes, please RSVP here by July 15, 2025.