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Judge finds no proof of intent to defraud

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Coupang ( CPNG ) alleged to rig search results, coerce suppliers

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Shareholders, Coupang ( CPNG ) not available to comment

(Rewrites first paragraph; adds details from decision,

accusations, attempts to obtain comment, byline)

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) -

Coupang ( CPNG ), the e-commerce company often called the

Amazon of

South Korea

, won the dismissal on Wednesday of a lawsuit claiming it

defrauded shareholders during and after its 2021 initial public

offering, Wall Street's largest by a foreign company in 6-1/2

years.

U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick in Manhattan said

shareholders led by several New York City public pension funds

failed to show Coupang ( CPNG ) and its executives intended to defraud

them, made materially misleading statements and omissions, and

ignored "red flags" that their public statements were false.

Shareholders accused Coupang ( CPNG ) of concealing unsafe working

conditions at its warehouses, manipulating search results and

having employees write product reviews to favor its

private-label brands, and coercing suppliers to boost prices on

rival platforms for products it automatically price-matched.

They said Coupang's ( CPNG ) share price fell by more than half

within a year of the March 2021 IPO as the truth came out,

including multiple investigations by South Korea's Fair Trade

Commission and a fire at a large fulfillment center.

In an 83-page decision, Broderick said many Coupang ( CPNG )

statements regarding working conditions were too broad or

"aspirational" to be misleading, while statements about its

relationships with suppliers were inspecific, true to begin with

or "puffery."

Broderick also said shareholders failed to plead "with

particularity" the circumstances of Coupang's ( CPNG ) alleged price

manipulation. He added that the company disclosed that its

employees were writing reviews.

The judge also dismissed all claims against the IPO's

underwriters including Goldman Sachs ( GS ), JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )

and Allen & Co. Broderick dismissed the lawsuit with

prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again.

Lawyers for the shareholders, as well as New York City

Comptroller Brad Lander, who oversees the pension funds, did not

immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither Coupang ( CPNG ) nor

its lawyers immediately responded to similar requests.

Coupang ( CPNG ) was founded in 2010 by South Korean billionaire

Bom Kim, and is now headquartered in Seattle.

With backing from Softbank Group, Coupang ( CPNG )

raised $4.6 billion

in its IPO, the largest by a foreign company on Wall Street

since Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba ( BABA ) went public

in September 2014.

The case is Teachers' Retirement System of the City of

New York et al v Coupang Inc ( CPNG ) et al, U.S. District Court,

Southern District of New York, No. 22-7309.