Private equity’s court battles
FORTUNE — A large number of private equity and venture capital firms are currently involved in litigation, some as defendants and some as plaintiffs. Four of these cases have had recent developments, so here is a quick rundown:
Dahl: This is the massive private equity bid-rigging case, which has accused 10 private equity firms of conspiring on nearly two dozen buyouts that occurred before the financial crisis. A Boston federal court judge last week rejected a motion brought by four firms – Blackstone, Carlyle, Goldman Sachs and TPG – to dismiss plaintiff claims specific to the $33 buyout of hospital chain HCA (the firms that actually bought HCA – Bain, KKR and Merrill Lynch – are no longer parties to this particular charge). The judge also has not yet ruled on a motion to dismiss the broader bid-rigging charges against the entire defendant group, although an earlier ruling suggested that he was leaning toward doing so.
Modern Finance Report 