Miller shareholder settlement approved

A federal judge has given final approval to a nearly $3 million settlement between Miller Energy Resources Inc. and certain shareholders.

The settlement resolves lawsuits investors filed after Miller’s stock price tanked in 2011. The suits were consolidated into a single case, with the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System designated as lead plaintiff.

The shareholders alleged Miller executives overstated the value of Alaska oil and gas assets acquired in 2009, and violated accounting principles. This had the effect of artificially inflating the price of Miller’s stock, with investors suffering losses after the fraud was exposed, the plaintiffs alleged.

Miller denied misleading investors and defended its asset valuation.

In July 2014, Miller said it had reached a reached a settlement of the class-action case. The settlement involves a payout of $2.95 million, with the money coming from the company’s insurer, Miller said.

The proposed settlement went through a notice period to the class members, and the court held a “final fairness hearing” on Feb. 3. That day, U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan, of Knoxville, Tennessee, signed a seven-page judgment approving the settlement.

The class includes “all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired shares of Miller common stock during the period between December 16, 2009 through and including August 8, 2011, and who were damaged thereby,” the judgment says.

Miller Energy is based in Knoxville and trades on the New York Stock Exchange. It operates primarily in Alaska, through its Anchorage-based subsidiary Cook Inlet Energy LLC. The company’s oil and gas properties include the Osprey offshore platform, the West McArthur River oil field, the North Fork natural gas field, and the Badami oil field on the North Slope.

- Wesley Loy