Partner Joshua Bennett notched a victory when the Texas Supreme Court determined that REIT Farmland Partners Inc. could continue its suit against Dallas-based First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP for fraudulently shorting Farmland’s stock value and profiting from the fallout. Per an article titled “Texas High Court Keeps Alive REIT’s “Short and Distort” Suit” in Law360, the dispute began when analyst David Quinton Matthews posted an article disparaging Farmland’s business practices, accusing them of making fraudulent loans and risking insolvency. According to Farmland, its stock dropped 39% in an article-induced sell-off. It also claims that Sabrepoint collaborated with Matthews, who was doing research for the hedge fund at the time.
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