Oil CEOs Settle Medtronic-Covidien Merger Insider Trading Suits

Two Oklahoma men agreed to pay the SEC almost $3 million to settle accusations they used inside information to trade ahead of Medtronic PLC and Covidien PLC’s 2014 merger, according to documents filed in Oklahoma federal district court Dec. 12.

John Kenneth Davidson learned of the merger from a neighbor on Covidien’s board, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

He shared the information with his friend and business associate John Special, and both men traded ahead of the merger, the agency said.

Davidson is the CEO of an ...