Class Action Accuses LBO Giants|Of Fixing Prices In Takeovers

BOSTON (CN) – A federal class-action complaint accuses **Bain Capital Partners, The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, Goldman Sachs and other heavy hitters of conspiring to “rig bids, restrict the supply of private equity financing, fix transaction prices and divide up the market for private equity services for leveraged buyouts.”     The complaint, filed by Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, claims the conspirators, whose conduct is “not regulated by federal securities law … fix the prices for target companies at artificially low levels.” Defendants include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Partners, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Thomas H. Lee Partners, Warburg Pincus, and others. Plaintiffs are shareholders of target companies that were taken over. See the 57-page complaint.