Kaplan v. S.A.C. Capital Advisors, L.P.

40 F. Supp. 3d 332, 2014 WL 4088099
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 14, 2014
DocketNos. 12-CV-9350 (VM), 13-CV-2459 (VM)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 40 F. Supp. 3d 332 (Kaplan v. S.A.C. Capital Advisors, L.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kaplan v. S.A.C. Capital Advisors, L.P., 40 F. Supp. 3d 332, 2014 WL 4088099 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

VICTOR MARRERO, District Judge.

Lead Plaintiffs in Case No. 12-cv-9350, David E. Kaplan, et al., individually and on behalf of a putative class of investors in Elan Corporation securities (“Elan Investor Class”), together with Lead Plaintiffs in Case No. 13-cv-2459, City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief System, et al., individually and on behalf of a putative class of investors in Wyeth securities (‘Wyeth Investor Class”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), filed this Joint Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint (the “CAC”) against defendants S.A.C. Capital Advisors, L.P., S.A.C. Capital Advisors, Inc., CR Intrinsic Investors, LLC, CR Intrinsic Investments, LLC, S.A.C. Capital Advisors, LLC, S.A.C. Capital Associates, LLC, S.A.C. International Equities, LLC, S.A.C. Select Fund, LLC, and Steven Cohen (“Cohen”) (collectively, “SAC Defendants”); defendant Mathew Martoma (“Martoma”); and defendant Sidney Gil-man (“Gilman”).

In Plaintiffs’ three-count CAC (Dkt. No. 128), Count One asserts violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b) (“Section 10(b)”), and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5 (“Rule 10b-5”); Count Two alleges violations of Section 20A of the Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78t-l (“Section 20A”); and Count Three alleges violations of Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78t(a) (“Section 20(a)”). Defendants moved to dismiss all counts of the CAC (see Dkt. Nos. 129,132, 134),1 and the parties have fully briefed the motions.2 For the reasons discussed below, the Defendants’ motions to dismiss are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

[336]*336I. BACKGROUND

The facts below are taken from the CAC, and the documents cited on relied upon therein. Except where specifically quoted, no further reference to these documents will be made. The Court accepts these facts as true for the purposes of ruling on the motions to dismiss. See Spool v. World Child Int’l Adoption Agency, 520 F.3d 178, 180 (2d Cir.2008).

A. ELAN AND WYETH’S BAPIÑE U-ZAMAB CLINICAL TRIALS ■

The allegations in this suit concern what has been called the most profitable insider trading scheme ever uncovered. Defendant S.A.C. Capital Advisors, L.P., together with its affiliates (collectively, “SAC”), illegally gained profits and avoided losses of $555 million by trading Elan Corporation and Wyeth securities while in possession of material, nonpublic information. The inside information at issue concerned the clinical trials of bapineuzumab (“bapi”), a drug designed to treat Alzheimer’s disease developed jointly by Elan and Wyeth. Martoma, an employee of SAC, cultivated relationships with two doctors—Gilman and Joel Ross—who were supervising bapi’s clinical trials, using these relationships to mine for news regarding the status of the trials.

B. BUYING PERIOD CLAIMS (AUGUST 2006-JULY 18, 2008)

Between August 2006 and July 18, 2008 (the “Buying Period”), Martoma obtained confidential information from Gilman and Ross regarding the safety and efficacy of bapi and the conduct of the clinical trials. Plaintiffs allege that Martoma reported information he obtained, which during this period reflected a positive outlook for bapi’s success, to Cohen, SAC’S founder, CEO, and owner. Based on the information Martoma provided, SAC greatly increased its holdings in Elan and Wyeth between August 2006 and July 18, 2008, ultimately accumulating positions in Elan and Wyeth of $336 million and $900 million respectively. During this period, SAC profited an estimated $158,346,018 from its Elan investments and $21,458,705 from its Wyeth investments.

C.SELLING PERIOD CLAIMS (JULY 19-JULY29)

Beginning in July 2008, the bapi trials began to reflect a negative outlook on the drug’s ultimate success. Gilman, who had been selected to publicly present the results of the most recent bapi trials on July 29, obtained access to these results during the week of July 14-18. While the market had anticipated that the results would show clear efficacy signals for the drug that might pave the way for early FDA approval, the results instead showed inconsistent efficacy signals—a disappointing outcome for investors. On July 17, 2008— twelve days before he was to reveal the results to the public—Gilman disclosed them to Martoma. Armed with news of the less-than-positive results, Martoma reported his pessimism regarding bapi’s future to Cohen. According to Plaintiffs, between July 19 and July 27 (“the Selling Period”) leading up to Gilman’s presentation, Cohen, with Martoma’s assistance, sold off SAC’s entire long position on Elan and all its stock in Wyeth. In addition, during this period SAC purchased short options on Elan and Wyeth—in effect betting that Elan and Wyeth shares would tumble. Plaintiffs assert that Cohen ensured these trades were made secretly—to the extent that even other traders at SAC were kept in the dark regarding the liquidation of the Elan and Wyeth positions.

On July 29, Elan and Wyeth announced the results of the bapi trials, followed by Gilman’s presentation analyzing them. [337]*337The market reacted negatively to the news, with share prices of both Wyeth and Elan falling sharply until market close on July 30. Because SAC had liquidated its long positions in Elan and Wyeth and purchased short positions in the companies before July 29, SAC avoided losses of an estimated $194 million on the long positions and obtained an estimated $73 million profit on its short bets, based on the July 30 market decline. Still, while market observers agreed that the July 29 news was less favorable than expected, their assessments of the trial results varied, with some interpreting the data as strongly negative while others viewed it as cautiously positive.

D. TYSABRIDROP

More bad news was to come for Elan shareholders, this time regarding Elan’s main commercially-marketed drug, Tysa-bri. On July 31, Elan announced that two patients treated with Tysabri had contracted progressive multifocal leukoeneephalo-pathy, a rare and frequently fatal disease. Following this disclosure, Elan’s shares declined a further fifty percent by market close on August 1. Because SAC had already sold off its Elan holdings, it avoided an additional $106.9 million loss based on the August 1 market decline.

E. GOVERNMENT ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

The scheme as described above has been the subject of multiple government enforcement actions. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“the SEC”) brought an enforcement action against SAC,3 Martoma, and Gilman, entitled SEC v. CR Intrinsic Investors, LLC, No. 12-CV-8466 (S.D.N.Y), (“SEC Action”),-concerning SAC’s liquidation of its long positions and purchase of short options in Wyeth and Elan between July 17 and July 29, 2008.

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Bluebook (online)
40 F. Supp. 3d 332, 2014 WL 4088099, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaplan-v-sac-capital-advisors-lp-nysd-2014.