Pomerantz Appointed Co-Lead Counsel in E-House Securities Litigation

On August 12, 2020, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District of New York appointed Pomerantz LLP as Co-Lead Counsel on behalf of Co-Lead Plaintiff Altimeo Asset Management in the Maso Capital Investments Limited v. E-House (China) Holdings Limited securities class action (20-cv-2943 (S.D.N.Y.)).

E-House touts itself as a leading real estate services company in China based on scope of services, brand recognition and geographic presence, providing online real estate and brokerage services, including e-commerce, online advertising and listing services, real estate agency services and financial services.

The complaint alleges that E-House issued numerous materially false and misleading statements in the preliminary proxy documentation related to a proposed buyout/merger offer from the SINA Corporation that would take the company private. Specifically, it is alleged that the false and misleading statements included those indicating that: (i) the merger was fair and in the best interest of all investors; (ii) there were no plans for post-merger transactions; and (iii) the proxies published and touted financial projections as the best available.

Not long after E-House was delisted from the NYSE in August 2016, it was revealed that the group that bought E-House in the merger had a plan to publicly relist the company’s securities in Hong Kong. By July 20, 2018, E-House was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of over $2.6 billion, over 2.8 times greater than the price paid to take the company private less than two years prior.

Pomerantz’s litigation team is led by Michael Grunfeld, Jeremy A. Lieberman, J. Alexander Hood II and Patrick V. Dahlstrom.