Looks like the class action suit has been settled

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biopearl123
Posts: 1665
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:13 pm

Looks like the class action suit has been settled

Post by biopearl123 » Tue Sep 06, 2022 8:48 pm

Looking this over there does not appear to be an admission guilt or of insider trading which would really make for bad PR. Bullet dodged and a headache for the company removed. But there were 81 shareholders that opted out of the class action suit. I don’t know if this suggests these individuals plan separate suits? Can anyone enlighten us? The total settlement was for 24 million (7M in stock—am guessing the poor insurance company is on the hook for the cash portion but don’t know that for sure.) After the rather large contingency payment to the attorneys (several million) and the court determined payment to the lead plaintiffs, any idea what the per share compensation might be to those who remained in the class action? TIA. As you know I have no legal background and just want to make sense of this, any help would be appreciated. bp

Bridge to Sell
Posts: 51
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2022 11:33 pm

Re: Looks like the class action suit has been settled

Post by Bridge to Sell » Wed Sep 07, 2022 2:11 pm

Several possibilities come to mind.

First and foremost is that some (or all) of the 81 abstensions disagreed that the company did anything wrong and refused to line the pockets of the class action attorneys.

Secondly, those shareholders could have had very small holdings at the time of the discontinuation and somehow felt that they would be under some obligation as members of a class action when they had little (or nothing) to gain.

Lastly, any number of these 81 shareholders could be friends or family with individuals associated with Geron and did not wish to sue.

In any event, I personally feel that by settling this the company has cleared away another obstacle on the path to partnering or selling. Ongoing litigation will always give a potential buyer pause. Better yet, it seems as if Geron may have been insured against this and there will be little drain on our finances by settling.

If you assume for the sake of argument that the attorneys were on a contingency basis, that is generally a 33% fee which comes out of the settlement. Add expenses on top of that and let's say 50% of the settlement remains for shareholders. That's $12 million split among the outstanding shares in 2018. Going from memory I think that was around 180 or 190 million shares at the time. Let's say 190 million. That would result in approximately $0.06 per share, so if someone held 10,000 shares at the time then they would likely receive around $600.

Feel free to correct my math.

rccola335
Posts: 305
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2019 10:00 pm

Re: Looks like the class action suit has been settled

Post by rccola335 » Wed Sep 07, 2022 3:17 pm

better to negotiate this when the company value is low - i think this may have been settled before a jump in market cap

biopearl123
Posts: 1665
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:13 pm

Re: Looks like the class action suit has been settled

Post by biopearl123 » Wed Sep 07, 2022 3:46 pm

Thanks Bridge for the clarification. From the legal proceedings it looks like there is a time period of March 19,2018 to Sept 26th,2018 (the class period) that will be looked at. It appears that stock purchased during this period will be subject to the settlement. I am sure the attorneys are overjoyed and the insurance company is not. bp

Bridge to Sell
Posts: 51
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2022 11:33 pm

Re: Looks like the class action suit has been settled

Post by Bridge to Sell » Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:29 pm

biopearl123 wrote:
Wed Sep 07, 2022 3:46 pm
Thanks HI for the clarification.
?

Bridge to Sell
Posts: 51
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2022 11:33 pm

Re: Looks like the class action suit has been settled

Post by Bridge to Sell » Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:43 pm

Upon re-reading the Settlement Stipulation I need to correct my previous post. It is not enough to have been a shareholder on September 26, 2018. To qualify for compensation you must have bought Geron stock during the time period March 19th to September 26th and held it. See below:

"Specifically, the Class includes all persons who purchased Geron common stock during the period from March 19,
2018, to September 26, 2018, inclusive, and who were damaged thereby."

This potentially limits the number of shares affected, as any long term shareholders likely purchased the bulk of their positions before March 19th 2018. Therefore, the compensation per share is likely to be higher.

biopearl123
Posts: 1665
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:13 pm

Re: Looks like the class action suit has been settled

Post by biopearl123 » Wed Sep 07, 2022 7:09 pm

Bridge, as you know I have been a long term shareholder and was around for the 2017 settlement as well, for which I received a small amount. Do you (or anyone) recall the per share compensation from that settlement? I anticipate this settlement will also represent a small fraction of the large losses we sustained in 2018. We can only hope the real compensation will come with a dramatic increase in stock value with TLR or a buy out/partnership. bp

biopearl123
Posts: 1665
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:13 pm

Re: Looks like the class action suit has been settled

Post by biopearl123 » Wed Sep 07, 2022 10:10 pm

Bridge, apologies, I somehow expected an answer from HI and crossed my wires. I appreciate your response.

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