On March 29, 2010, the Honorable Laura Taylor Swain of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a putative federal securities class action filed against Focus Media Holding Limited and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., which were the underwriters of a nearly $1 billion equity offering by Focus Media in November 2007. Shearman & Sterling represented the underwriters in the litigation.

The case was brought on behalf of purchasers of Focus Media securities and alleged, among other things, that the prospectus for the offering violated Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 by failing to disclose allegedly adverse intra-quarter financial results at Focus Media. The Court rejected these allegations, finding no duty to disclose the allegedly omitted information and that the disclosures were not misleading. The Court also found that any attempt by the plaintiffs to replead their case would be futile.

The Shearman & Sterling team was led by New York litigation partners Adam Hakki and Herb Washer and included associates Daniel Lewis and Robert L. Whitener.