NEW YORK-OmniSky Corp.’s September 2000 initial public offering of 9.1 million shares of common stock at $12 per share has led to a shareholder class-action lawsuit, which was filed late month against OmniSky executives and several of its IPO underwriters.
The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against executives Patrick S. McVeigh, Lawrence S. Winkler and Michael J. Malesardi and underwriters Credit Suisse First Boston Corp., Chase Securities Inc., Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. and Salomon Smith Barney Inc.
The complaint charges OmniSky with violating the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for issuing a registration statement and prospectus that contained false and misleading information and disregarded material information.
For example, the prospectus did not disclose the underwriters’ agreement with investors to provide them with significant amounts of restricted OmniSky shares in the IPO in exchange for commissions. In addition, the agreement between the underwriters and some of their customers said that the underwriters would allocate shares in the IPO to those customers in exchange for their agreements to purchase OmniSky shares in the after-market at pre-determined prices.
The plaintiffs are seeking to recover damages on behalf of all who purchased or otherwise acquired OmniSky securities during the class period, which was between Sept. 25, 2000, and Dec. 6, 2000.
