CTPartners To Sell Stock Amid Securities Fraud Investigation

January 26, 2015 – CTPartners is moving forward with a previously planned public offering of common stock, seeking to raise $12.5 million. Craig-Hallum Capital Group will act as sole managing underwriter. William Blair & Co., the company’s one-time lead underwriter, pulled out of any public offering consideration last week when it downgraded CTPartners’ stock and dropped its coverage of the global search firm, citing ‘credibility’ issues. New York-based CTPartners withdrew a planned public offering on Dec. 8, when reports that the company took profitable accounts away from female workers and subjected them to lewd behavior surfaced. Now, marring this latest public offering comes news of an investigation initiated by Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC, a law firm specializing in securities class action and shareholder litigation. Mike Swick, a KSF partner, said his action is to “encourage shareholders and former employees of CTPartners to come forward with information” that could lead to a securities class action lawsuit. KSF’s investigation, said Mr. Swick, is focusing on whether CTPartners and/or its officers and directors violated state or federal securities laws. One of his primary concerns is that CTPartners' management knew of a pending EEOC investigation claiming discrimination at the firm but that it failed to acknowledge this information, as required, in it's public filings. CTPartners' stock, down 40 percent last week, was down another 10 percent on the news.