Goldman Sachs Group and Bain Capital Partners agreed to pay a total of $121 million to settle claims they cheated investors by suppressing competition in some of the biggest deals of the leveraged buyout boom before the financial crisis.
Goldman Sachs will pay $67 million under the agreement to settle the antitrust lawsuit while Bain Capital will pay $54 million, according to the preliminary settlement filed Wednesday in federal court in Boston. The accord must be approved by U.S. District Judge William G. Young, who is set to preside over a trial beginning Nov. 3 against remaining defendants.
Shareholders of companies that were acquired accused Goldman Sachs, Bain and banks and private equity firms of conspiring to carve up the market for large LBOs, suppressing prices and depriving investors of billions of dollars.
The case, which covers buyout deals for Clear Channel Communications Inc. and TXU, now known as Energy Future Holdings Corp., remains pending against other defendants including Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and KKR & Co.
Pension funds and individuals that held shares in companies including Freescale Semiconductor Ltd., Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and HCA Holdings Inc. sued Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs and a dozen other investment banks and private equity firms in 2007 and 2008, claiming the firms teamed up to rig bids, restrict financing and fix transaction prices.
Goldman Sachs said in a statement it was pleased to put the matter behind it. Bain Capital denies any wrongdoing in the settlement of the case, Ernesto Anguilla, a spokesman for the Boston-based firm, said in a statement.