On July 13, 2016, Pomerantz LLP, as sole Lead Counsel for the Class, achieved court approval for a $45 million settlement with defendants in a securities class action litigation against online coupon company, Groupon, Inc. (“Groupon” or the “Company”),(NASDAQ:GRPN).
Class certification was granted on September 15, 2014.
The class action (1:12-cv-02460), filed in the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, was on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired Groupon common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Company’s Registration Statement and Prospectus (collectively, the “Registration Statement”), as amended, issued in connection with its November 4, 2011 initial public offering (the “IPO”), and/or purchased or otherwise acquired Groupon common stock during the period from February 8, 2012 through and including March 30, 2012. This class action was brought under §§11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 and §§10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5.
The Complaint alleged that throughout the Class Period, Groupon made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the adequacy of the Company’s internal financial controls, and the Company’s reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011.
On Friday, March 30, 2012, Groupon disclosed that: (a) it had materially understated refund reserves for fourth quarter 2011 (“Q4 2011”) due to a failure to properly account for coupon refunds; (b) as a result, it had materially misstated previously reported Q4 2011 and Full-Year 2011 revenue, operating income (loss), operating expense, net income (loss), earnings (loss) per share, and cost of revenue; and (c) internal controls over its financial statements had material weaknesses.
As a result of the revelations, Groupon’s stock declined. On Monday, April 2, 2012, the first trading day following Groupon’s disclosures, the Company’s stock closed on extraordinarily high volume of 10.09 million shares at $15.27 – a single-trading-day decline of $3.11 or 16.9% from its prior close.