|
 |
| 2002 News and Press Releases |
|
|
HEADLINE ARCHIVED:
IPO Lawyers to Start Settlement Talks With Tech Firms
By: David Glovin
Bloomberg News. March 11, 2002
_________________________________________________________________________
Excerpt: Lawyers for 311 technology companies accused in civil suits of rigging initial public stock offerings, including VA Linux Systems Inc. and Red Hat Inc., plan to start settlement talks with the plaintiffs, attorneys said. At a hearing in New York today, lead lawyers for shareholders and the technology companies they're suing said they will enter mediation for a 90-day period before an unnamed former federal judge. The three-dozen underwriters for the technology companies, including Credit Suisse Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., weren't mentioned as parties to the negotiations. Plaintiffs say in the class action lawsuits that the banks secretly allocated IPO shares to investors who agreed to pay higher prices later when the shares were made available to the public. That practice created an artificial demand for the stock, the suits contend. The technology companies are accused of issuing misleading prospectuses. "We think there is a possibility of making progress in a resolution," plaintiff's attorney Melvyn Weiss told U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan. "We think it will take about 90 days to explore the approach." Lawyers for the plaintiffs have previously said that damages might exceed $1 billion in the case. There was no mention in open court today of possible settlement terms.
|
|
|
