Lawsuit Filed On Behalf of Handspring Shareholders
A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of all purchasers of Handspring common stock from June 21 through December 6 of last year against the underwriters of Handspring's initial public offering. Handspring itself is not a defendant. The suit alleges that the underwriters made agreements with certain investors that artificially drove up the stock. This suit is actually quite similar to one filed last month against Palm and the underwriters of its IPO.
The complaint charges Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated with two violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
It alleges that, in exchange for excessive and undisclosed commissions, members of the underwriting brokerage companies sold Handspring stock to customers at the IPO price of $20 per share. To do this, the underwriters' brokerage customers had to agree to purchase additional shares in the aftermarket at pre-determined prices.
The requirement that customers make additional purchases at progressively higher prices as the price of Handspring stock moved upward (a practice known on Wall Street as "laddering'') was intended to (and did) drive Palm's share price up to artificially high levels. This artificial price inflation, the complaint alleges, enabled both the underwriters and their customers to reap enormous profits by buying stock at the $20 IPO price and then selling it later for a profit at inflated aftermarket prices.
Anyone who bought Handspring stock June 21 through December 6 of 2000 can sign up to be a member of this class. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed online.
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RE: cry babies wah wah
RE: cry babies wah wah
This suit is not being taken by the people inside the deal, who made a lot of money they DID NOT deserve. It is being taken on behalf of the people who were outside this deal.
The question is, how much of the dot.com frenzy was fuelled by the same kind of fiddles?
When this frenzy collapsed, because of these "artificially-high" prices, a lot of people in the technolgy industries lost their jobs, and a lot more will do. That is no laughing matter.
Off Topic
www.palminfocenter.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=826&FORUM_ID=33&CAT_ID=1
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News Editor
Palm Infocenter
Plenty More Where That Came From
Looks like investors are going to court to try to get some of their money back from the Tech Bubble. It will be interesting to see if they are successful.
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cry babies wah wah
Reminds me of that movie where a british futures trader in Hong Kong makes a blunder, tries to cover it up by borrowing his employer's money (a bank) which he eventually bankrupts when the Asian Contagion happens and he loses billions. I think the movie is based on a true story.
I just don't think there's any money to be made in the market because there's so much technology watching every companies move, any move to the upside is already "priced in" and any move to the downside was previously seen by the insiders. 1998-2000 bubble was a big lesson in pyramid scams.