VeraSun Energy Corporation - Securities Class Action

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Copyright (c) 2001
Stanford Law School

VeraSun Energy Corporation Summary: According to a press release dated November 10, 2009, The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s true financial condition, business and prospects. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants failed to disclose the following adverse facts, among others: (i) VeraSun was, in part, a speculative commodities trader in addition to an ethanol producer; (ii) VeraSun engaged in speculative and risky derivate transactions that exposed the Company to substantial financial and liquidity risk; (iii) VeraSun experienced substantial loses on speculative derivative transactions causing margin pressures on the Company; (iv) as a result of margin pressures from bad speculative derivative transactions, the Company sold out of a large short position in corn and incurred substantial losses; (v) the Company entered into highly risky “accumulator” contracts that obligated VeraSun to purchase increasing amounts of corn after the price of corn fell in price per bushel; and (vi) VeraSun’s financial condition and especially its liquidity were negatively impacted as a result of speculative commodity transactions, ultimately causing the Company to file for bankruptcy.

On September 16, 2008, VeraSun announced that it commenced a public offering of 20 million shares of its common stock to raise money for “general corporate purposes.” The true purpose of this public offering was to raise capital in an effort to prevent a disastrous impact from the huge losses experienced by the Company as a result of its speculative trading and risky bets on the price of corn. In response to the Company’s announcement on September 16, 2008, shares of the Company’s stock fell $3.81 per share, or 70%, from a close of $5.22 per share before the announcement, to close at $1.41 per share on September 17, 2008, on extremely heavy trading volume.

On January 29, 2010, the Plaintiff’s stipulation and order appointing lead plaintiffs and approving lead plaintiffs' selection of lead and liaison counsel was granted by the Court.

On March 15, 2010, a consolidated class action complaint for violations of the federal securities laws was filed by the lead plaintiffs against the defendants.

On September 01, 2010, the Court granted the defendants motion and the case was dismissed without prejudice and with leave to amend.

On September 29, 2010, this action was dismissed with prejudice and the Court ordered that each party bear its own costs.

INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION:
SIC Code: 2860
Sector: Basic Materials
Industry: Chemical Manufacturing

COMPANY/ISSUER NAME:	VeraSun Energy Corporation
COMPANY/ISSUER TICKER:	VSUNQ.PK
COMPANY WEBSITE:	http://www.verasun.com/

FIRST IDENTIFIED COMPLAINT IN THE DATABASE

Yaron Gissin, et al. v. Donald L. Endres, et al.

COURT: S.D. New York	DOCKET NUMBER: 09-CV-09338
JUDGE NAME: Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin
DATE FILED: 11/10/2009	SOURCE:
CLASS PERIOD START: 03/12/2008	CLASS PERIOD END: 09/16/2008
TYPE OF COMPLAINT: Complaint (Unamended and Unconsolidated)
PLAINTIFF FIRMS NAMED IN COMPLAINT:
Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (Melville) 58 South Service Road, Suite 200, Melville, NY, 11747 (voice) 631.367.7100, (fax) 631.367.1173, info@csgrr.com/ Dyer & Berens LLP (former) 682 Grant Street, Denver, CO, 80203-3507 (voice) 303.861.1764, (fax) 303.861.1764, contact@dyerberens.com _____________________________________________ TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAINTIFF FIRMS: 2

DOCUMENTS FOR THE FIRST IDENTIFIED COMPLAINT
Complaint For Violation Of The Federal Securities Laws
Type: Complaint		Date on the document: 11/10/2009
Stipulation And Order Appointing Lead Plaintiffs And Approving Lead Plaintiffs' Selection Of Lead And Liaison Counsel
Type: Order Appointing LP/LC		Date on the document: 02/01/2010
Stipulation And Order
Type: Order		Date on the document: 02/17/2010

REFERENCE COMPLAINT

Gissin et al v. Endres et al

COURT: S.D. New York	DOCKET NUMBER: 09-CV-09338
JUDGE NAME: Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin
DATE FILED: 03/15/2010	SOURCE:
CLASS PERIOD START: 03/12/2008	CLASS PERIOD END: 09/16/2008
TYPE OF COMPLAINT: First Amended and Consolidated
PLAINTIFF FIRMS NAMED IN COMPLAINT:
Gold Bennett Cera & Sidener LLP 595 Market Street, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA, 94105-2835 (voice) 800.778.1822, (fax) 415.777.5189, info@gbcsf.com _____________________________________________ TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAINTIFF FIRMS: 1

DOCUMENTS FOR THE REFERENCE COMPLAINT
U.S. District Court Civil Docket
Type: Docket		Date on the document: 02/24/2010
Consolidated Class Action Complaint For Violations Of The Federal Securities Laws - Jury Trial Demanded
Type: Complaint		Date on the document: 03/15/2010
U.S. District Court Civil Docket
Type: Docket		Date on the document: 03/15/2010
Opinion And Order
Type: Order		Date on the document: 09/01/2010
U.S. District Court Civil Docket
Type: Docket		Date on the document: 09/01/2010
Stipulation Of Dismissal With Prejudice
Type: Other		Date on the document: 09/30/2010

OTHER DOCUMENTS

Case Name and/or Number:
Type:		Date on the document:

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