BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (HedgeWorld.com)–A short seller, Hal O. Collier, has brought a complaint in the federal district court for Connecticut against Scott Sacane, the hedge fund manager who bought a majority stake in two health care industry companies last year without having made the required Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Mr. Collier’s complaint, filed July 19, asks the court to order this suit maintained as a class action with the plaintiff class to consist of “all persons and entities who sold short shares of [Aksys Ltd.] at any time from January 2003 through July 24, 2003 and suffered damages thereby” except for persons or entities associated with the defendants: Mr. Sacane, his fund Durus Life Sciences Master Fund Ltd., its management company and Aksys itself.
The plaintiff alleges that the revelation of certain defendants’ previously concealed purchases and ownership levels in Aksys last July caused an increase in the price of Aksys that did damage to class members in that they would not have sold short had the truth been disclosed properly (see Previous HedgeWorld Story).
Aksys, of Lincolnshire, Ill., was one of two companies in which Durus, a long/short equity hedge fund with a special interest in the health care industry, acknowledged an outsized accidental accumulation at that time–the other was Esperion Therapeutics Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan. The lawsuit filed on Mr. Collier’s behalf by attorneys Patrick Lennon, Southport, Conn., and Lee Squitieri, New York, makes no mention of Esperion.
Aksys offers dialysis-related products. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Aug. 9, Aksys said that it believes “that all of the claims against Aksys are without merit and we intend to defend them vigorously.” A spokesman for Mr. Sacane declined to comment.