Shareholders of Emmis common stock couldn’t persuade a Marion County, Indiana judge to stop founder/CEO Jeff Smulyan’s attempt to take it private at $2.40 a share. Emmis had argued that state law doesn’t give shareholders the standing to halt Smulyan’s tender offer. The Indianapolis Star says Judge Robyn Moberly denied the plaintiff’s bid for a preliminary injunction and ruled that shareholders who don’t like the sale to Smulyan can simply sell their shares. Emmis calls it a “sweeping” victory on all points. Emmis still has to negotiate a bigger block of opposition: holders of its preferred stock who don’t like exchanging their stock for a new issue of Emmis debt due in 2017. There’s also a recently-filed potential class action from the law firm of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman and Herz on behalf of both common and preferred stockholders. That was filed in U.S. District Court in New York City.