Facebook Takes IPO WAR to New York City

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and its lead underwriters requested that all shareholder lawsuits over its IPO be grouped together in Manhattan federal court in papers filed on Thursday with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation.

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Facebook and the banks — Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) — said the U.S. District Court in Manhattan was the “most appropriate and convenient forum to oversee these coordinated and/or consolidated proceeding.”

More than a dozen federal shareholder lawsuits have accused Facebook and its underwriters of keeping secret the company’s weakened growth forecasts ahead of the stock’s public debut on May 18. Nasdaq OMX Group (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has also been named in numerous suits claiming the exchange operator was negligent in handling orders for Facebook shares.

Shares of Facebook closed Friday up 6% at $30.01 per share.

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