Amazing that claims involving national markets and tens of billions of dollars are kept under seal for five years. But, last week, the judge hearing the case first unsealed a 2007 complaint asserting civil antitrust claims for price-fixing and collusion among some of Wall Street’s biggest names. The amended complex alleges a web of collusive arrangements involving at least 11 of the world’s largest buyout firms and their roles in some 19 deals. The defendants include Apollo Global Management, LLC; Bain Capital Partners, LLC; the Blackstone Group LP; the Carlyle Group LLC; the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP; Providence Equity Partners, Inc.; Silver Lake Technology Management, LLC; TPG Capital, LP (better known as Texas Pacific Group); and Thomas H Lee Partners, LP. The case is Klein et al. v. Bain Capital Partners LLC et al., case number 1:07-cv-12388, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
This fall, the New York Times published an article about the lawsuit and filed a motion seeking access to the complaint. The motion was granted in less than two months. One has to wonder why it took five years for that to happen. LAW360 also has the story, including summaries of emails said to prove up the claim. The complaint is quite detailed as it quotes from and cites to specific emails between the banking houses. The full text of the complaint is online.
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