Suits spread blame for IPOs gone bad; Attempt to recover losses from Merrill may extend liability to fund managers.(Merrill Lynch & Co., initial public offerings)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Crain's New York Business, June, 2001 by Gandel, Stephen

Claude Amsellem thought he had hit a financial home run when he bought 700 shares of Merrill Lynch's highly touted B2B Internet Holdrs trust last year. As the shares rose during the fund's first days of trading, he dipped back into the market, scooping up hundreds more shares. Then the bottom fell out.

After climbing briefly to $111 from their offering price of $95, B2B Internet Holdrs shares went into a free fall in April 2000. A year later, the shares stood at $4.79, leaving Mr. Amsellem with a $285,730 loss and a conviction that he had been had. As a result, Mr. Amsellem two months ago brought the first of eight separate shareholder suits against Merrill Lynch & Co. as the fund's sponsor, seeking to recover a total of $315 million in value wiped out by...