NEW YORK, July 21, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Roy Jacobs & Associates announces it has filed an action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of the common units of SemGroup Energy Partners, L.P. ("SGLP" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:SGLP) during the period from February 20, 2008 through July 17, 2008 (the "Class Period") for violation of the federal securities laws. The defendants include SGLP and certain officers and directors.
For further information, please contact Roy L. Jacobs, Esq. toll-free at 1-888-884-4490 or by e-mail to rjacobs@jacobsclasslaw.com. You may also visit the firm's website at www.jacobsclasslaw.com.
The Complaint alleges that SGLP's parent SemGroup, L.P. (the "Parent") was in financial difficulty or at high risk for such financial difficulty as a result of its investment in risky crude oil hedge transactions by the start of the class period, but hid this from investors in SGLP. Rather, on or about February 20, 2008, SGLP effected a secondary offering, (the "Offering") where it sold 6 million units at $23.90 for proceeds of $137 million. It also borrowed substantial funds and purchased the Parent's asphalt business for $387 million. It is alleged that this transaction was designed to financially prop up the Parent. While the Prospectus for the Offering described the positive relationship between SGLP and the Parent, and further described how important the Parent was to SGLP since it was SGLP's primary customer and provided almost all of the Company's revenue, there was no discussion of the Parent's financial difficulties or risk factors.
In the period following the Offering, SGLP units traded in the $24-27 range reflecting that, as far as the investing public was aware, the Company was operating according to its business plan. However, by July 11, 2008, SGLP unit values began to decline on increased trading volume, despite the release of no adverse news. Then on July 17, 2007 SGLP unit prices declined 50% to $11.00 on greatly increased volume of 5.7 million units, as a result of leakage of material adverse news which had been withheld by defendants. As a result of the widespread leakage, the defendants were finally forced to issue a statement after the market closed on July 17, 2008 revealing that the Parent was experiencing liquidity issues and was exploring various alternatives, including raising additional equity, debt capital or the filing of a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
This news, which was completely unexpected, shocked the market. As a result the price of the Company's units have continued to decline, wiping out almost $300 million in unitholder value.
If you purchased SGLP units during the period from February 20, 2008 through July 17, 2008 in the Offering or in the open market and are interested in discussing your rights free of charge, please contact Roy L. Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs will be glad to personally speak with you. You may also signup at the Firm's Website. You may qualify to serve as Lead Plaintiff on behalf of the Class. You do not have to have sold your units to serve in this capacity.
All motions for appointment as Lead Plaintiff must be filed in the by September 19, 2008.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at http://www.primenewswire.com/ca/