The corporate litigation firm backed by high profile lawyer Amanda Banton is believed to be working on a class action case against the listed Nuix, according to sources.
The case being investigated by Banton Group to bring against Nuix on behalf of its investors is understood to centre on allegations about misleading forecasts in the company’s prospectus for its initial public offering last year.
It comes as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission continues to monitor matters surrounding the company.
Ms Banton established her own law firm Banton Group last year after building up a reputation for taking on litigation cases in relation to complex financial products, with a particular emphasis on collateralised debt obligations or synthetic collateralised debt obligations, winning cases against global ratings agencies and global and Australian financial institutions.
In the past, she has worked on cases involving groups such as Lehman Brothers Australia, Forge Group, Arrium, City Pacific and others.
The Macquarie Bank-backed Nuix, which produces investigative analytics and intelligence software, has come under fire and seen panic-selling by investors since February when it issued its first profit warning, triggering a 70 per cent share price collapse.
Its market value is now $1.1bn after it was listed as a $1.69bn company in December in what was the largest Australian float of the year.
Nuix shares soared to as high as $3.5bn in January before the earnings downgrade.
Macquarie Group owned 66.1 per cent of the business when it was listed and sold down its interest to 30 per cent, which would enable the Australian listed bank to collect more than $500m in proceeds on the back of the IPO.
The company’s shares fell further this week following allegations over the its financial float preparations and the involvement of former company executive Anthony Dante Castagna, who was acquitted of tax fraud and money laundering after serving prison time.
But shares have since rebounded after chairman and former US ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich, publicly defended Nuix and apologised to investors for the share price performance.
Major institutional investors, hoping to cash in on its hi-tech growth potential in what was considered a somewhat defensive investment amid the global pandemic and a market darling, are said to have been irate over the group’s performance.
The Macquarie-backed company cut the full-year forecasts laid out in its IPO prospectus, just over a month after it restated them following its half year results.
In its profit warning, Nuix said its revenue was forecast to land within the $180m-$185m range, compared to the $193.5m originally forecast.
Annualised contract value was also revised downwards, to the $168m-$177m range as compared to $199.6m.
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