Karri v. Oclaro Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedOctober 8, 2020
Docket3:18-cv-03435
StatusUnknown

This text of Karri v. Oclaro Inc. (Karri v. Oclaro Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Karri v. Oclaro Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 SAISRAVAN BHARADWAJ KARRI, Case No. 18-cv-03435-JD

8 Plaintiff, ORDER RE MOTION TO DISMISS v. 9 Re: Dkt. No. 29 10 OCLARO, INC. et al., Defendants. 11

12 13 This is a securities class action against Oclaro, Inc. and its former directors and officers 14 arising out of Oclaro’s acquisition by Lumentum Holdings, Inc.1 Plaintiff SaiSravan Karri 15 brought suit on behalf of former public stockholders of Oclaro under Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of 16 the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78n(a), 78t(a), and Securities and Exchange 17 Commission Rule 14a-9, 17 C.F.R. § 240.14a-9. Dkt. No. 20 ¶¶ 1, 9. Karri alleges in an amended 18 complaint that Oclaro’s board of directors solicited approval for the transaction through a proxy 19 statement containing materially false or misleading statements regarding the transaction. See id. 20 ¶¶ 3-7. Defendants’ motion to dismiss, Dkt. No. 29, is granted and denied in part. 21 BACKGROUND 22 As alleged in the amended complaint, Oclaro was a leading provider of components used 23 in high-speed optical networks. Dkt. No. 20 (Amended Compl.) ¶ 28. Starting in 2016, Oclaro’s 24 strong performance consistently impressed financial analysts and commentators. Id. ¶¶ 30-58. On 25 November 1, 2017, Oclaro announced its quarterly financial results, which, while strong, showed 26

27 1 As a result of a merger with a wholly owned subsidiary of Lumentum, Oclaro no longer exists. 1 some weakness in its sales in China and produced a negative market reaction. Id. ¶ 61. 2 Lumentum first expressed interest in acquiring Oclaro a week later, and Oclaro and Lumentum 3 entered into a nondisclosure agreement in December 2017. Id. ¶¶ 63-64. 4 By mid-December 2017, financial analysts had expressed an optimistic assessment of 5 Oclaro’s prospects. Id. ¶ 65. In early February 2018, Oclaro’s CEO publicly touted Oclaro’s 6 strong financial performance, and discounted the impact of the disappointing aspects of the prior 7 quarter’s financial results. Id. ¶¶ 66-73. Specifically, Oclaro’s CEO stated that the company’s 8 guidance in February 2018 remained consistent with its guidance from three months earlier. Id. 9 ¶ 72. Around the same time, Oclaro’s management decided to revise downward its internal 10 financial projections for the second time in as many months, preparing what has been called the 11 “February Projections.” Id. Commentary in the financial community about Oclaro’s prospects 12 remained favorable. Id. ¶ 74. 13 On February 15, 2018, Lumentum submitted a non-binding written offer to acquire Oclaro 14 at $8.35 per share of Oclaro stock, consisting of $6.60 in cash and $1.75 in Lumentum stock. Id. 15 ¶ 75. According to the amended complaint, this represented a discount on both Oclaro’s target 16 price, id. ¶ 76, and on financial analysts’ recent price targets, id. ¶¶ 58, 65. On February 21, 2018, 17 the Oclaro board discussed Lumentum’s offer, and instructed Oclaro’s CEO to present a 18 counteroffer of $9.90 per Oclaro share. Id. ¶ 76. Financial commentary continued to state that 19 Oclaro’s stock was undervalued. Id. ¶ 78. 20 Oclaro’s management ultimately accepted an offer from Lumentum of $5.60 in cash and 21 0.636 shares of Lumentum stock for each share of Oclaro stock. Id. ¶ 77. Oclaro’s management 22 provided its financial advisor, Jefferies LLC, with the February Projections, which served as the 23 basis for Jefferies’ valuation analyses and fairness opinion evaluating the transaction. Id. Oclaro 24 did not provide these February Projections to Lumentum. Id. 25 On March 11, 2018, Oclaro and Lumentum executed a merger agreement, which they 26 announced the next day. Id. ¶¶ 80-81. After the merger agreement was signed, Oclaro continued 27 to perform well, and in May 2018, Oclaro’s CEO publicly stated that the previous quarter’s 1 consecutive quarter of double-digit operating income growth. Id. ¶ 82. 2 In June 2018, Oclaro’s board of directors solicited approval of Lumentum’s acquisition of 3 Oclaro through a proxy statement. Id. ¶ 83. The proxy included projections from December and 4 January, the February Projections, and Jefferies’ conclusion that the merger consideration offered 5 by Lumentum was fair, based on the valuation figures (specifically, implied equity reference 6 ranges) that Jefferies calculated from the February Projections prepared and provided by Oclaro’s 7 management. Id. ¶¶ 84, 89. The proxy highlighted Lumentum’s promising prospects as a reason 8 for approving the transaction, but omitted the forecasts that had been provided to Jefferies by 9 Lumentum. Id. ¶ 85. 10 The amended complaint alleges that members of Oclaro’s board signed off on a proxy 11 statement that contained false or misleading statements and omissions about Oclaro’s true value, 12 as reflected by Oclaro’s own price targets, id. ¶ 76, Oclaro’s CEO’s public statements on earnings 13 calls, id. ¶¶ 67-73, and financial analysts’ views of Oclaro’s worth, id. ¶¶ 65, 78. Specifically, the 14 amended complaint alleges that the proxy statement included these false or misleading statements: 15 (1) the January and February Projections themselves, (2) representations about the preparation of 16 the January and February Projections, and (3) valuation figures calculated from the February 17 Projections that were used to evaluate the fairness of Lumentum’s offered consideration. Id. ¶¶ 4, 18 84; see also Dkt. No. 33-1 at 2-3. The amended complaint also alleges that the failure to include 19 the forecasts provided to Jefferies by Lumentum was a materially misleading omission. Dkt. No. 20 20 ¶¶ 5, 85; see also Dkt. No. 33-1 at 3. 21 Defendants say that the challenged statements fall within the PSLRA’s safe harbor 22 provision, 15 U.S.C. § 78u-5(c), which applies to forward-looking statements that are 23 accompanied by meaningful cautionary language. Dkt. No. 29 at 9-13; Dkt. No. 35 at 3-8. 24 Defendants also contend that Karri has failed to show that challenged statements of opinion are 25 false. Dkt. No. 29 at 13-18; Dkt. No. 35 at 8-12. Finally, defendants argue that the amended 26 complaint fails to plead that the alleged omission of the Lumentum Forecasts rendered the proxy 27 statement misleading, or that such information was material. Dkt. No. 29 at 18-20; Dkt. No. 35 at 1 DISCUSSION 2 I. Legal Standards 3 Well-established standards govern this motion to dismiss. To comply with the pleading 4 requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) and survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to 5 dismiss, a plaintiff must allege “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” 6 Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). A claim has facial plausibility when the 7 pleaded factual content “allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is 8 liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Twombly, 9 550 U.S. at 556). In evaluating a motion to dismiss, the Court assumes that the plaintiffs’ 10 allegations are true and draws all reasonable inferences in their favor. Usher v. City of Los 11 Angeles, 828 F.2d 556, 561 (9th Cir. 1987).

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Karri v. Oclaro Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/karri-v-oclaro-inc-cand-2020.