Determining the source of malicious allegations that depressed the share price of a pharmaceutical company
Nardello & Co. was retained by a pharmaceutical company targeted by a research firm that posted allegations about the company that drove down its share price. The client believed the research firm was working in concert with short sellers as part of a coordinated effort to profit from a drop in the company’s share price. An open source investigation of the key parties determined that the head of the research firm had a significant history of short selling on his own behalf even though he and his company did not appear to be linked to the short sellers who were targeting the client. Our research also found that the short sellers waging the campaign had been the subject of legal and regulatory actions involving alleged insider trading in concert with other short sellers. Our findings helped inform the client’s legal and public relations strategies.