SEC Alleges Insider Trading Ahead of Sanofi's Purchase of Bioverativ
January 26 2018 - 7:54PM
Dow Jones News
By Dave Michaels
WASHINGTON -- U.S. securities regulators on Friday sued to
freeze the profits of people who are alleged to have scored a
windfall this week by trading on illegal tips about Sanofi SA's
$11.5 billion purchase of hemophilia drugmaker Bioverativ.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed the suit in federal
district court in Manhattan and said the traders' identities is
unknown. The lawsuit seeks an order that would force Credit Suisse,
which processed the trades through an account in Zurich, to
disclose the traders' names.
The traders paid about $170,000 for the options and earned about
$4.9 million in profit after Bioverativ's price skyrocketed 61% on
Monday, when the deal was announced. The SEC said the trades are
"highly suspicious" because the bullish option contracts were
purchased from Jan. 12 to Jan. 19, one business day before the
disclosure that French drugmaker Sanofi would acquire Bioverativ
for $105 a share.
The SEC alleged the traders didn't have a prior history of
significant trading in Bioverativ options and benefited from inside
information to reap their profits. The regulator is seeking that
the defendants disgorge their trading gains and pay fines.
Write to Dave Michaels at dave.michaels@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 26, 2018 19:39 ET (00:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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