UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
KEVIN PETERSON, on behalf of himself and all X
others similarly situated, :: Index No.
Plaintiff, :: CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT
FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE
vs. :: FEDERAL SECURITIES
LAWS
VIANT CORPORATION, GOLDMAN, SACHS & :
CO., CREDIT SUISSE FIRST BOSTON :
CORPORATION, LEHMAN BROTHERS INC., :
SALOMON SMITH BARNEY INC., ROBERT L. :
GETT, and M. DWAYNE NESMITH, ::
Defendants. :X
Plaintiff, by his undersigned attorneys, individually and on behalf of the Class described
below, upon information and belief, based upon, inter alia, the investigation of counsel, which
includes, among other things, a review of public announcements made by defendants, Securities
and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings made by defendants, and press releases and media
reports, except as to the paragraph applicable to the named plaintiff which is alleged upon
personal knowledge, brings this Complaint (the "Complaint") against defendants named herein,
and alleges as follows:
SUMMARY OF ACTION
1. This is a securities class action alleging that the Registration Statement and the
Prospectus dated June 17, 1999 for the issuance and initial public offering of 3,000,000 shares of
Viant Corporation ("Viant" or the "Company") common stock (the "Offering"), contained
material misrepresentations and/or omissions. The Registration Statement and Prospectus are
referred to herein collectively as the "Prospectus." Defendants are Viant and two of its senior
management team, who were responsible for the materially false and misleading statements made
in the Prospectus, and four underwriters of Viant's Offering, who engaged in a pattern of conduct
to surreptitiously extract inflated commissions greater than those disclosed in the Offering
SNIPPETS:
Plaintiff, by his undersigned attorneys, individually and on behalf of the Class described
includes, among other things, a review of public announcements made by defendants, Securities
and Exchange Commission filings made by defendants,
This is a securities class action alleging that the Registration Statement and the
Prospectus dated June 17, 1999 for the issuance and initial public offering of 3,000,000
Viant Corporation common stock,
material misrepresentations and/or omissions.
The Registration Statement and Prospectus are
who were responsible for the materially false and misleading statements made
in the Prospectus, and four underwriters of Viant's Offering, who engaged in a pattern of
materials,
the Securities Act of 1933 and 28 U.S.C. § 1331.
Defendant Goldman, Sachs & Co., was, at all relevant times
Defendant Credit Suisse First Boston Corp., was, at all relevant
are collectively referred to herein as "the Underwriter Defendants."
Members of the Class are so numerous that joinder of all members is
This is an initial public offering of shares of the common stock of Viant Corporation.
To the extent that the underwriters sell more than 3,000,000 shares of common stock, the
The following tables show the per share and total underwriting discounts and commissions to
huge profits by reselling the shares at much higher prices in the aftermarket.
locking-in additional commissions on transactions in Viant securities that otherwise would
payment by certain investors of extra-large, undisclosed "kickbacks" for allocations in
With regard to the joint SEC and U.S. Attorneys' investigation, The Wall Street
In most cases, a majority of IPO shares are allocated to institutional investors, including
before a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District
The statements in the Prospectus and referenced in ¶¶22-24 were materially false
Item 501 of Regulation S-K specifically governs the forepart of the Registration
statements of material facts, omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements
The Underwriter Defendants' material misrepresentations and/or omissions were
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