Petrofac Limited (LON:PFC) shares fell today after a litigation funder said it was contemplating launching shareholder action against the oil and gas service provider to recover losses amid a corruption scandal.
Shares dropped 1.72% to 389.47p in morning trading.
Bentham Ventures said it was considering funding legal proceedings against Petrofac on behalf of investors as the group’s share price has plunged more than 50% over this month during an investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
The litigation funder will support legal action for those who bought shares before 12 May, the date the SFO confirmed it was investigating Petrofac of suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering.
The investigation is linked to a probe into Monaco-based Unaoil on claims the firm paid bribes on behalf of oil companies to secure lucrative contracts.
In a statement Bentham said: "The alleged grounds of the proposed litigation are expected to be that Petrofac issued false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material information regarding its business, its performance and prospects, and/or otherwise misled shareholders and/or concealed the conduct described below."
Last week Petrofac’s share dropped 30% after it announced it was suspending its chief operating officer, Marwan Chedi, as the SFO conducts its investigation.
Petrofac employed Unaoil for consultancy work in Kazakhstan between 2002 and 2009 and commissioned an independent investigation last year into the allegations. It passed its finding on to the SFO, but the regulator told Petrofac that it did not accept them and that it does not consider it has received co-operation from the company.