It's like something out of the movie "Wall Street". A federal judge in Boston is expected to rule soon on whether to expand the number of Wall Street buyouts included in a key lawsuit that charges more than a dozen heavyweight private-equity firms with rigging the prices on 17 deals over four years, The Post has learned.
The case, filed by four shareholders in the companies bought by the PE firms, has proceeded at a snail's pace with little media attention since it was filed in 2007, but has survived 10 attempts by the defendants to toss it out of court and could pick up steam if Judge Edward Harrington rules against the buyout kings and expands the deals included in the action to 27.
Still, even if the plaintiffs lose the key battle, the case stands out from other unsuccessful shareholder and regulatory attempts to prove collusion among buyout shops in at least one major regard -- the shareholders have a smoking gun e-mail from an executive at one PE firm clearly outlining a deal in which one firm would not enter a bid in a particular takeover in return for the executive's firm's not entering a bid in a separate takeover..
The PE firms, if found guilty of colluding on the buyouts, could be on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in damages, a source close to the case said. The source added, "There are more than one or two communications that they [the PE firms] are not going to want to show a jury."
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/wheel_of_fortune_3QamNAp2pSuLXaMxS0d9tK#ixzz1UvJ1IQ00
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