Arsam Co. v. Salomon Bros.

142 F.R.D. 659
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedMarch 4, 1992
DocketNo. 89CV593; Master File No. 851
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 142 F.R.D. 659 (Arsam Co. v. Salomon Bros.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arsam Co. v. Salomon Bros., 142 F.R.D. 659 (N.D. Ohio 1992).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ANN ALDRICH, District Judge.

In this action stemming from the sale of debt and securities for purposes of financing the leveraged buyout of Reveo, D.S., Inc., Arsam Company, a disappointed investor, has moved for class certification. For the reasons stated below, this Court grants this motion.

I.

Arsam alleges that the defendants violated sections 11 and 12(2) of the Securities [661]*661Act of 1933 Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 77k and Til, section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5, and state common law by disseminating a prospectus and registration statement which contained numerous misstatements and omissions. Arsam also charges defendants Sidney Dworkin, William B. Edwards, and R. Carroll Hudson with violating section 15 of the 1933 Act, 15 U.S.C. § 77o and section 20 of the 1934 Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78t.

On December 12, 1991, this Court issued a memorandum and order denying defendants’ motions to dismiss Arsam’s federal securities law claims and granting the motions with respect to Arsam’s claims under Ohio Rev.Code § 1707.41. Familiarity with that memorandum and order, which provides an extensive discussion of the facts alleged in the first amended complaint, is presumed.

Dworkin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Reveo, (which had been one of the largest drugstores in the nation) sought to take Reveo private, hoping to maintain control over the company. In financing the LBO, various issues of debt and securities were sold by the Anac Holding Company, which had been formed by members of the management team of Rev-eo, TSG Holdings Inc., and Golenberg & Co., in order to acquire Reveo. Arsam purchased $1 million of senior subordinated notes during the initial public offering which commenced on December 18, 1986. The LBO was completed by the end of December.

After investing in Reveo, Arsam did little to monitor its investment, except for reading the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Reveo timely paid interest to Arsam in 1987.

On April 15, 1988, Reveo announced that it would probably default on an interest payment due in June of 1988. Following Revco’s default on that interest payment, Reveo filed for bankruptcy in July of 1988. Arsam sold its notes at a loss after Revco’s bankruptcy filing.

Arsam seeks to represent a class of investors

who purchased the Debt/Securities during the period from December 18, 1986 through April 15, 1988 and still held some or all of their Debt/Securities as of January 1, 1988. Excluded from the Class are the defendants herein, members of the immediate family of each of the individual defendants, any entity in which any defendant has a controlling interest, and the legal representatives, heirs, successors or assigns of any such excluded party.

This Court allowed defendants an opportunity to conduct discovery, in order to prepare a response to Arsam’s motion. Defendants deposed eight representatives of large institutions, who invested in the Rev-eo debt or securities. Prior to reaching an independent settlement with Arsam, defendant Salomon Brothers, Inc. filed an extensive memorandum in opposition to class certification which was adopted by the non-settling defendants.1

Defendants have moved for summary judgment, asserting that Arsam filed this action more than one year after it acquired actual and constructive knowledge of its claims.

The Court has also preliminarily approved a $29.75 million settlement reached between Arsam and Salomon. For purposes of that settlement, a class of investors, similar to, but somewhat broader than, the class which Arsam seeks to certify in the pending motion, was recognized. A hearing on the final approval of the settlement is scheduled for March 31, 1992.

II.

A court may certify a class if it is convinced that the prerequisites of Rule 23 have been satisfied. General Telephone Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 2372, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982). “The individuals seeking class certification have the burden of proving that they are entitled to class certification.” Reid v. White Mo[662]*662tor Corp., 886 F.2d 1462, 1471 (6th Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1080, 110 S.Ct. 1809, 108 L.Ed.2d 939 (1990).

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a) requires the movant to demonstrate that:

(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable;

(2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class;

(3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class; and

(4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

Prior to certifying a class, the Court must also make certain findings under one of the alternatives contained in Rule 23(b). Ar-sam urges this Court to determine “that the questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3).

In determining whether to certify a class, a court should not consider the merits of the action. Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156, 178, 94 S.Ct. 2140, 2152, 40 L.Ed.2d 732 (1974). For purposes of a class certification motion, a court must accept as true the factual allegations contained in the complaint. Shelter Realty Corp. v. Allied Maintenance Corp., 574 F.2d 656, 661 n. 15 (2d Cir.1978); Blackie v. Barrack, 524 F.2d 891, 901 n. 17 (9th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 816, 97 S.Ct. 57, 50 L.Ed.2d 75 (1976). The court “may consider reasonable inferences drawn from facts before [it] at that stage of the proceedings.” Senter v. General Motors Corp., 532 F.2d 511, 523 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 870, 97 S.Ct. 182, 50 L.Ed.2d 150 (1976).

III.

A. Numerosity

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142 F.R.D. 659, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arsam-co-v-salomon-bros-ohnd-1992.