AeroGrow International shareholders who held stock when Scotts Miracle-Gro’s subsidiary completed its $3.00-a-share buyout on February 26, 2021 will be paid automatically from the $15,978,202.50 AeroGrow shareholder class action settlement; there is no claim form to file. A Nevada court approved the settlement on May 8, 2026, and no payment date had been announced as of September 25, 2026.
Current Status
There is no claim form, so there was never a claim deadline. The opt-out deadline (March 9, 2026) and the objection deadline (March 31, 2026) have both passed. After the April 30, 2026 settlement hearing, the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada entered its Final Judgment and Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement on May 8, 2026, according to the court’s docket, and the case is now closed. No payment date had been announced as of September 25, 2026. Eligible former shareholders do not need to do anything to be paid.Free settlement alerts
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What Changed Recently?
The court granted final approval on May 8, 2026, awarding class counsel $6,115,487.71 in attorneys’ fees and approving $35,000 in total service awards. The case, Overbrook Capital LLC v. AeroGrow International, Inc., et al., challenged the price minority shareholders received when SMG Growing Media, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, acquired the rest of AeroGrow in a merger that took effect on February 26, 2021. Scotts Miracle-Gro was already AeroGrow’s majority shareholder, and remaining holders were cashed out at $3.00 a share.The plaintiffs allege that $3.00 was inadequate and unfair, and that AeroGrow’s directors and its majority shareholder breached their fiduciary duties, or aided and abetted a breach, by interfering with the market check, leaving material facts out of the merger proxy statement and through other alleged conduct. The defendants deny the allegations, deny that any law was violated and deny that shareholders were damaged under Nevada law. The court made no finding of liability.
The settlement came after roughly five years of litigation. The first complaint was filed in January 2021, the court certified the class by stipulation in March 2022, and the court decided five summary judgment motions in March 2025, dismissing two individual director defendants. With a jury trial set to begin in October 2025, the parties accepted a mediator’s proposal from retired judge Layn Phillips in September 2025 and signed the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement on December 9, 2025.
Other take-private cases have been resolved the same way, with the money following the shares rather than a claim form — including the Continental Resources shareholder settlement over the Hamm family buyout and the PowerSchool stockholder settlement over its Bain Capital deal.
Who Qualifies?
The class covers everyone who held AeroGrow International, Inc. common stock on February 26, 2021, the effective date of the merger, and had the right to receive the $3.00-a-share merger consideration for those shares, plus their successors and assigns. AeroGrow traded on the OTCQB market under the symbol AERO before the merger.Excluded are the defendants named in the amended complaint; their parents, subsidiaries and affiliates; their officers, directors, management, employees and agents; government entities; the judges and chambers staff on the case and their immediate families; and anyone who timely requested exclusion. Shares for which dissenters’ rights were properly exercised under Nevada law are also excluded. Those holders are respondents in a separate appraisal case, AeroGrow International, Inc. v. Quadre Investments, L.P., et al., Case No. A-21-836612-B, and the settlement does not release those appraisal claims.
Buying or selling AeroGrow stock at other times does not matter. What counts is holding shares on the merger date and being entitled to the $3.00 payment for them.
How Much Can You Get?
The settlement fund is $15,978,202.50 in cash, plus interest. Administration and notice costs, taxes, the $6,115,487.71 in attorneys’ fees the court awarded, and $35,000 in total service awards to the two plaintiff entities come out first. What remains is the net settlement fund.The net fund is divided equally across every eligible share. The administrator computes a per-share recovery by dividing the net fund by the total number of eligible shares, and each eligible holder receives that amount multiplied by the number of AeroGrow shares for which it received merger consideration. The court documents do not publish a per-share estimate, and the notice says the formula is not an estimate of what any shareholder will receive.
If money is left six months after the first distribution, from uncashed checks or returned payments, the administrator will redistribute it to holders who deposited their first payment if doing so is cost-effective. Any balance after that may go to the Legal Aid Society of Southern Nevada. None of the money returns to the defendants.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
None. This is not a claims-made settlement. The notice says the people entitled to payment do not have to submit a claim form or take any other action. For shares held in street name, the administrator pays each brokerage or bank that participated in the Depository Trust Company according to the position it was paid on in the merger, then instructs those firms to pass the money on to their customers pro rata. Holders of record who held shares in their own name are paid directly.What Is the Deadline?
There is no claim deadline because there is no claim form. The only deadlines in the case were for requesting exclusion (postmarked by March 9, 2026) and for objecting or giving notice of intent to appear at the hearing (received by March 31, 2026). Both have passed.How Do You Take Action?
Eligible shareholders do not need to act. Anyone whose contact details have changed since 2021, or who wants to confirm how a payment will arrive, can use the contact page on the official AeroGrow Shareholder Litigation website. Shareholders who held through a brokerage should also keep that account’s contact information current, since street-name payments are routed through the broker.What Happens Next?
Under the notice, the net fund is distributed only after the settlement’s effective date, which requires the approval judgment to become final, including the expiration of any time for rehearing or appeal, and after costs, fees and service awards are paid or reserved. Distribution then runs in stages: first to brokerage firms and direct holders, then from those firms to their customers. The court’s docket shows no distribution date, and no distribution date had been announced as of September 25, 2026; any update is expected on the official settlement website.Sources and Verification
- AeroGrow Shareholder Litigation — official settlement website, maintained by the class administrator under the supervision of class counsel: case caption, class definition, fund amount and deadlines.
- Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, Nevada, docket for Case No. A-21-827665-B, viewed on the court’s public case portal: the Final Judgment and Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement entered May 8, 2026, the $6,115,487.71 attorneys’ fee award, the $35,000 in service awards and the case’s closed status.
- Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action (Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, Nevada, Case No. A-21-827665-B): procedural history, plan of allocation, exclusions, service awards and the fairness hearing.
- Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement dated December 9, 2025, available through the official settlement website.
Questions
Do former AeroGrow shareholders need to file a claim to be paid?
No. The court notice says the people entitled to payment do not have to submit a claim form or take any other action. The administrator pays through the depository and brokerage records used to pay the $3.00-a-share merger price in February 2021, and pays holders of record directly.
I sold my AeroGrow shares before February 26, 2021. Am I included?
No. The class is limited to people who held AeroGrow stock on February 26, 2021, the day the merger took effect, and who had the right to receive the $3.00-a-share merger payment for those shares, along with their successors and assigns. Earlier sellers did not receive merger consideration and are not part of the settlement.
How does the money reach shareholders who held AeroGrow through a brokerage account?
For shares held in street name, the administrator pays each brokerage or bank that participated in the Depository Trust Company its share of the fund based on the positions it was paid on in the merger, then instructs it to pass the money to its customers pro rata. Shareholders who held certificates or book-entry shares in their own name are paid directly by the administrator.
What about shareholders who demanded appraisal instead of taking $3.00 a share?
Shares for which dissenters’ rights were properly exercised under Nevada law are excluded. Those holders are respondents in a separate appraisal case, AeroGrow International, Inc. v. Quadre Investments, L.P., Case No. A-21-836612-B, which the settlement does not release.
When will AeroGrow settlement payments be sent?
The court entered final judgment approving the settlement on May 8, 2026, but no payment date appears on the court docket and none had been announced as of September 25, 2026. Under the notice, the administrator distributes the net fund only after the approval judgment becomes final, including the expiration of any time to appeal, and after administration costs, taxes, attorneys’ fees and expenses and service awards are paid or reserved. Updates are posted on the official settlement website.
