duPont v. Wyly

61 F.R.D. 615, 18 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 488, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10428
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedDecember 28, 1973
DocketCiv. A. No. 4630
StatusPublished
Cited by90 cases

This text of 61 F.R.D. 615 (duPont v. Wyly) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
duPont v. Wyly, 61 F.R.D. 615, 18 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 488, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10428 (D. Del. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

STAPLETON, District Judge:

W. Henry duPont, a shareholder of defendant Wyly Corporation (formerly University Computing Company, and herein referred to as “UCC”), has brought this action against that corporation, various of its present and former officers and directors, a holding company owning certain UCC securities, and Arthur Young & Co., the corporation’s independent public accountant. The complaint alleges violation of Section 12(2) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 9(a), 10(b), 13(a) and 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and various rules promulgated thereunder by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The violations are said to arise from misrepresentations and omissions in registration statements, proxy statements, annual reports, public announcements, press releases and “otherwise,” as well as in filings with the SEC and the New York Stock Exchange. Additionally, four of the defendants are alleged to have engaged in open market purchases of UCC stock with the purpose and effect of raising the price of that security and inducing its purchase by others. Jurisdiction is conferred by 15 U.S.C. §§ 77v, 78aa.

Stated broadly, plaintiff asserts that the numerous security law violations he alleges evidence a continuing conspiracy among the defendants to perpetrate a “fraud on the market.” That is, plaintiff says the defendants successfully conspired to keep the market price of UCC stock at artificially high levels during the relevant period by issuing false reports and statements, engaging in misleading accounting techniques and “pegging” the price of UCC shares on the market. Plaintiff alleges that this conspiracy was not exposed to public view until the spring of 1973 when UCC announced an $83 million dollar loss for fiscal year 1972.

Mr. duPont is the record owner of five shares of UCC stock purchased on May 19, 1971.1 In this action he seeks to represent a class of shareholders which includes all those persons who purchased shares of common stock of UCC during [620]*620the period January 1, 1971 to April 19, 1973, the date of the filing of the complaint.

The case is currently before the Court on a motion under Rule 23 for a determination of whether it may proceed as a class action, and a motion under Rule 12(b)(6) to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim.

I. CLASS ACTION STATUS.

A. The Factual Background.

Plaintiffs relationship with UCC is complex. Mr. duPont, through his wholly owned corporation Sci-Tek, Incorporated, is a competitor of UCC and has also had extensive business with that corporation.

Sci-Tek has competed with UCC since 1966 in the computer utility service business.2 On December 31, 1970, Sci-Tek entered into a joint venture with United Software Corp. -(“United”) calling the joint venture “Speed Pak.” The joint venture sought to market under the Speed Pak name a system which included memory cores compatible with a Univac 1108 computer, software for the 1108 computer, and service. The sole source of supply for the essential memory cores, other than Univac itself, was Weismantel Associates, Inc. (“Weismantel”). On December 19, 1970 Sci-Tek entered into a contract with Weismantel for the purchase of ten memory cores.

During the course of 1970, Weismantel came under the control of UCC. On April 22, 1971 Sci-Tek and its joint venturer United entered into “an agreement in principle” with UCC which provided for control of Weismantel to pass to the joint venturers, and for the financing of such transfer by, among other means, a sale and lease back of certain Sci-Tek property. On the same date Sci-Tek executed and delivered to the First National City Bank (“FNCB”) a promissory note in the amount of $125,000; UCC was a guarantor of this note. For reasons not altogether clear from the papers of record here, the deal contemplated by the agreement in principle never came to fruition. The joint-venturers can-celled their order for the ten memory cores. Thereafter, on May 13, 1971, Weismantel instituted a Chapter XI proceeding in the bankruptcy court. Five days later Mr. duPont purchased his five shares of common stock in UCC.

In November 1971 Mr. duPont, along with his company Sci-Tek, United and SpeedPak, sued UCC and another corporation alleging violations of various of the anti-trust laws that arose in part from the transactions described above.3 Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that during 1970 Weismantel had come under the control of UCC and that UCC had exercised that control to prevent Speed Pak from obtaining the memory cores necessary to the success of its project. Damages of $50,000,000 were asserted which, when trebled as requested, would total $150,000,000.

In December 1971, UCC, which had been called upon to pay the note that Sci-Tek and United had given to FNCB and on which it was the guarantor, brought an action on the note against the makers.4 Sci-Tek and United counterclaimed against UCC for fraud and deceit, demanding damages of $10,000,-000. Both of these suits are pending and have not proceeded beyond the discovery stage. In both, Mr. duPont’s interests are represented by the law [621]*621firm that represents him in this lawsuit.

After the filing of the present complaint, Mr. duPont instituted still another action against UCC in this Court. That action, captioned W. Henry duPont v. University Computing Company, Civil Action No. 4655, and filed on May 16, 1973, alleges that the proxy statement issued by UCC in conjunction with its 1973 annual meeting of shareholders violated Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 14 promulgated by the Securities & Exchange Commission.

The current net worth of UCC is approximately $62,000,000.

B. The Legal Standard.

Rule 23(a) sets forth four prerequisites to the maintenance of a class action. Under that section, it must appear that:

1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impractical,
2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class,
3) the claims or defenses of the class representatives are typical of those of the class, and
4) the representative party will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

Additionally, the Court must find, as the plaintiff alleges, 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.” F.R.C.P. 23(b)(3).

The plaintiff bears the burden of establishing that these requisites for a class action are present, Weisman v. M. C. A., Inc., 45 F.R.D. 258 (D.Del.1968); Rossin v. Southern Union Gas Co., 472 F.2d 707, 712 (10th Cir. 1973). I am nonetheless mindful of the observation of the Third Circuit in Kahan v.

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Bluebook (online)
61 F.R.D. 615, 18 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 488, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dupont-v-wyly-ded-1973.