Steve Cohen’s former hedge fund settles insider trading suit for $135M

Steve Cohen’s former hedge fund agreed to pay $135 million to shareholders of Elan Corp. to settle claims that the fund’s alleged insider trading caused them to lose money.

The shareholders claimed that SAC Capital used insider information to trade shares in the pharmaceutical company — now owned by Perrigo — between 2006 and 2008.

SAC got the inside info from doctors involved in the clinical trials of Elan’s Alzheimer’s drug, it was alleged.

The preliminary settlement was filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court and still needs to be approved by a judge. The $135 million figure accounts for nearly 50 percent of the alleged ill-gotten gains from the trades.

As part of the settlement, Cohen and SAC Capital do not have to admit wrongdoing.

“We are pleased to have resolved this matter and close the books on this chapter of SAC-era litigation,” a spokesperson for Cohen family office Point72 Asset Management said in a statement.

SAC changed its name to Point72 when Cohen, as per a regulatory settlement, gave up managing outside money. Cohen is barred from taking outside investments until 2018.

In 2013, Cohen, through various entities, paid $1.2 billion to settle a criminal insider trading probe brought by the Manhattan federal prosecutor.