Abacus Global Management (NASDAQ:ABL) announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Coventry First LLC and its chairman, Alan Buerger, alleging a coordinated campaign to defame the company and damage its business through anticompetitive practices.
The complaint was filed in Florida’s Ninth Circuit Court.
According to the filing, Coventry and Buerger allegedly spread false and misleading information about Abacus to regulators, auditors, analysts, investors, and the public in an effort to harm the company’s reputation and financial standing.
The suit also claims that the short seller Morpheus Research worked in coordination with Coventry to publish a report on June 4, 2025, that repeated many of these statements.
Following the release of the report and a related interview given by Buerger, Abacus stock fell by over 21%, erasing more than $200 million in market value.
The lawsuit outlines what Abacus describes as a years-long effort by Coventry to undermine its valuation practices.
Abacus claims that Coventry targeted one of its vendors, Lapetus Solutions, alleging it produced inaccurate life expectancy estimates that led to inflated asset values on Abacus’s balance sheet. Abacus disputes this, stating it does not use life expectancy models to value its assets and that these accusations are unsupported by its public disclosures.
Abacus also claims that Buerger made further false statements in a recorded interview published shortly before the Morpheus report, including predictions of the company’s collapse and accusations of financial misconduct.
The company is being represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for harm to its reputation, its customer base, and its relationships with current and potential investors.
“This isn’t about competitive practices or even good faith criticism of a competitor’s business model – they clearly crossed the line into tortious interference and defamation,” Abacus Global Management CEO Jay Jackson said in a statement.
“They’re losing market share to Abacus because we offer policyholders better terms and more transparent pricing, so instead of competing on product, they chose to try to manipulate markets by damaging Abacus’ reputation, confusing its customers, and undermining investor confidence with false statements. We’ve built a successful business through our fierce commitment to transparency – and we are going to fight back.”