Mercer v. Allegheny Ludlum Corp.

125 F.R.D. 43, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2770, 1989 WL 32690
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 22, 1989
DocketNo. M8-85
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 125 F.R.D. 43 (Mercer v. Allegheny Ludlum Corp.) 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
Mercer v. Allegheny Ludlum Corp., 125 F.R.D. 43, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2770, 1989 WL 32690 (S.D.N.Y. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HAIGHT, District Judge:

Plaintiffs Richard D. Mercer and Edward R. Lipski brought this motion before the undersigned in Part I to enforce subpoenas addressed to a non-party witness, Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”). The underlying federal securities litigation, with pendent state and common law claims, against Allegheny Ludlum Corporation (“Allegheny Ludlum”) and Richard P. Simmons is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania before Hon. Glenn E. Mencer, United States District Judge. Plaintiffs’ deposition subpoenas duces tecum, in aid of the action pending before Judge Mencer, were served in this district. Plaintiffs invoke Rules 37 and 45, F.R.Civ.P. The issues posed by the original motion papers have been significantly narrowed by the agreement of counsel, but certain disputes remain.

Briefly stated, plaintiffs Mercer and Lip-ski are former employees and stockholders of Allegheny Ludlum. They both retired from the company on November 30, 1986. On that date, Mercer owned 5,000 shares in Allegheny Ludlum. Lipski owned 2,500 shares. The company’s stock restriction plan then in force required Mercer and Lipski, upon their retirement, to sell their shares to Allegheny Ludlum for “book value.” As of November 30, 1986, Allegheny Ludlum valued its shares at $322.80 per share. In consequence, on November 30, 1986 Mercer sold his shares to the company for $1,614,000. Lipski sold his shares for $807,000.

It is common ground that Goldman Sachs had been providing investment banking and related services to those in control of Allegheny Ludlum’s destinies since 1984. Pursuant to a letter of engagement dated September 11, 1986, Goldman Sachs confirmed its authority “to represent Allegheny Ludlum Corporation ... in all negotiations looking to the possible sale of the Allegheny Ludlum Corporation by way of a merger, a sale of all or a portion of the assets or stock of the Allegheny Ludlum Corporation, or otherwise.”

In point of fact, with Goldman Sachs’ assistance Allegheny Ludlum put together an initial public offering of its stock on May 8, 1987 (the “IPO”).

The complaint alleges (¶ 27) that as of May 8, 1987, “the presplit Allegheny Ludlum Corporation shares of common stock were valued at $6,250 per share.”

Based upon the dramatic difference between that alleged $6,250 per share valuation and the “book value” of $322.80 per share calculated by the company when it purchased plaintiffs’ shares only five months previously, plaintiffs commenced the underlying action in the Western District of Pennsylvania. The case for plaintiffs is that prior to their retirement in November 1986, the corporate “insiders” (including defendant Simmons, Allegheny Ludlum’s chairman of the board and chief executive officer) concealed from and misrepresented to plaintiffs facts concerning the value of the company’s stock and the company’s then-existing future plans for the company and its securities. Plaintiffs allege that as a result they were induced to retire and resell their stock to the company at an artificially low price. Thus Count I of the complaint, for securities fraud, alleges at It 50:

“Had plaintiffs known of the material information not disclosed by defendant, they would not have retired and would not have sold their securities to Allegheny Ludlum Corporation, or they would [45]*45not have sold their securities at such a low price.”

Each plaintiff alleges damages as “being the difference between the amount paid by Allegheny Ludlum Corporation for his shares on November 30, 1986 and the true market value of those shares.” ¶¶ 51, 52.

Goldman Sachs, a key player in the game, is clearly a potential source of information as to whether defendants were playing by the rules. Rule 26(b)(1) provides generally for the scope of discovery. Plaintiffs “may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter” of their claims. “It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.”

The remaining disputes focus primarily upon Goldman Sachs’ actions on behalf of Allegheny Ludlum, and documents generated by those actions, subsequent to May 8, 1987, the date of the IPO. Counsel for Goldman Sachs disclaims the May 8, 1987 date as a bright line of demarcation between the appropriate and inappropriate areas of inquiry, and points out, in that regard, that it has furnished some documents generated subsequent to that date. But the main thrust of Goldman Sachs’ position is to consign events and documents subsequent to the IPO to the realm of the undiscoverable. That appears clearly enough from the manner in which counsel for Goldman Sachs poses the issue in its brief in opposition at 3:

“Whether Goldman Sachs must produce documents, and answer questions at a deposition, concerning non-public or other transactions and services which are wholly unrelated to the issue in the action that Goldman Sachs undertook on behalf of Allegheny subsequent to the May 1987 initial public offering.”

Plaintiffs’ somewhat more terse summary of the dispute appears at their brief at 3:

“Whether Goldman may continue to withhold documents prepared or obtained after May 8, 1987 on grounds of relevancy.”

This dispute manifested itself during the two depositions of Goldman Sachs noticed by plaintiffs. The witnesses were Kevin W. Kennedy, a Goldman Sachs partner active on the Allegheny Ludlum account, and Tacey B. Phillips, an associate.

It is quite true that the focal point of plaintiffs’ outrage, as pleaded in their complaint, is the significantly greater share valuation alleged to be a component of the May 1987 IPO. And, as noted, the only specific measure of damages presently pleaded by plaintiffs is the difference between the amount Allegheny Ludlum paid plaintiffs for their shares on November 30, 1986 “and the true market value of those shares.” Plaintiffs do not specify in their complaint the date upon which that true market value should be calculated, but the thrust of their fraud theory appears to be that the company’s “insiders” kept plaintiffs in the dark in respect of the IPO, then under active consideration with the assistance of Goldman Sachs.

Consequently, one may plausibly regard the May 1987 IPO as both the culmination of defendants’ fraud against plaintiffs, and the benchmark date by which the amount of plaintiffs’ resulting damages should be calculated. However, assuming arguendo that to be the case—and I put it no higher than that—it does not follow that plaintiffs may not obtain discovery in respect of post-May 1987 documents or activities involving Goldman Sachs.

Conceptually at least, it is not difficult to imagine post-IPO investment banking advice or services which, upon analysis, may shed some light upon Allegheny Ludlum’s true value at the time plaintiffs retired and sold their shares. At oral argument, counsel for plaintiffs referred to a generous post-IPO dividend which, viewed in the totality of the circumstances, might cast doubt upon the bona fides of the book value calculated in respect of plaintiffs’ shares. Plaintiffs’ counsel also appeared to identify that dividend as being relevant to plaintiffs’ damages, on the theory that if they had not been fraudulently induced to sell their shares, they would have participated in the dividend.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
125 F.R.D. 43, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2770, 1989 WL 32690, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mercer-v-allegheny-ludlum-corp-nysd-1989.