Multinational company Shell has come out on top in this New Zealand's longest-running insider trading case.
Claims brought by a group of investors that their shares in gas and oil subsidiary Southern Petroleum were undervalued during a 1995 takeover by Fletcher Challenge Energy have been dismissed by the High Court at Auckland, The Dominion Post reported.
The lawsuit stretches back to 1999 and rested on a claim that Fletcher Energy's James Patek, a director of both Petrocorp and Southern, knew that the potential size of the Mangahewa prospect, in which the two companies operated a joint venture, was greater than the Southern minorities were told when they accepted the bid.
Shell ended up in court because of its 2001 takeover of Fletcher Energy, through which Petrocorp and Southern became part of the Shell Group of companies.
In this week's judgment, Justice Hugh Williams dismissed all eight causes of action against both Mr Patek and Petrocorp.
He also ruled that "the pleaded inside information would not have been likely to materially affect the price of Southern's shares".
The claimants' lawyer, Gary Judd, QC, says it is too early to tell whether an appeal will be sought.
