Morgan Stanley possible target for lawsuit over OW Bunker float
MORGAN Stanley is one of the banks that could be sued by the Danish Shareholders’ Association (DSA) over the disastrous initial public offering (IPO) of OW Bunker in March 2014.
The Danish marine fuel company, which was originally valued at $1bn (£656m), was rocked by scandal in November 2014 when it revealed it was facing a bankruptcy declaration, causing shares to fall by over 50 per cent before being suspended.
At the start of this year, the DSA began investigating the IPO documents with the aim of suing OW Bunker’s private equity backer Altor and the banks and advisers involved with the deal, which was led by Morgan Stanley.
Niels Mengel, chairman of the DSA, told City PM yesterday all the firms involved in the IPO were potential targets for a lawsuit. The case is being taken by a sub-group of the DSA, the OW Bunker Investors’ Association, which now comprises 3,000 members with a total claim of 280m Danish kroner (£27m), according to Mengel.
He also said the investigation had uncovered an attempt to sell OW Bunker one year before the float.