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Ημερομηνία: 22/3/2007 11:00:00 πμ Περιοχή: Νέα Υόρκη ΗΠΑ Από: BW
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( BW)(NY-US-COURT-SO-DIST-NY) Court to Notify Parmalat Investors of
$50 Million Partial Settlement of Class Action Lawsuit
Business Editors/Legal Editors
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 2007--A multi-national
notification program began today, as ordered by the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York, to alert
investors, brokers, financial institutions, and other nominees who
bought the common stock and/or bonds of Parmalat Finanziaria S.p.A.
and its subsidiaries and affiliates from January 5, 1999 through and
including December 18, 2003 about a USD $50 million partial settlement
of a U.S. class action lawsuit about the prices paid for Parmalat
common stock and bonds.
The lawsuit alleges that Parmalat and numerous other defendants
participated in a fraudulent financial scheme, resulting in the
understatement of Parmalat's debt by nearly $10 billion and the
overstatement of its net assets by over $16 billion. Parmalat
ultimately filed for bankruptcy, and the value of its stock and bonds
dramatically declined.
Several of the defendants have now agreed to settle the case
(Banca Nazionale del Lavoro S.p.A. (BNL), Credit Suisse Group, Credit
Suisse, Credit Suisse International, and Credit Suisse Securities
(Europe) Limited), while the lawsuit proceeds against Parmalat S.p.A.
(the successor to Parmalat Finanziaria S.p.A.), financial
institutions, two auditing firms, and certain individuals.
The Court defined "Class members" in the settlement to include all
people and entities who bought Parmalat common stock and/or bonds from
January 5, 1999 through and including December 18, 2003, and were
damaged thereby, regardless of where such people live or where they
purchased their Parmalat securities.
Notices informing Class members about their legal rights will be
mailed, and are scheduled to appear in publications reaching readers
in the United States, Italy, and around the world, leading up to a
hearing in New York on 19 July 2007, when the Court will consider
whether to approve the settlement.
In May 2004, the Court appointed the law firms of Cohen, Milstein,
Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C, of Washington, D.C., Grant & Eisenhofer,
P.A., of Wilmington, DE, and Spector Roseman & Kodroff, P.C., of
Philadelphia, PA, to represent the Class. These firms have been
litigating this case known as In re Parmalat Securities Litigation,
No. 04 Civ. 0030 (LAK), since that time, and they negotiated the
partial settlement.
Those affected by this settlement may simply await further notice
about how to ask for a payment, or may now exclude themselves from the
partial settlement, or object to the terms of the proposed settlement.
The deadline for exclusions and objections is 19 June 2007.
The money in the settlement fund will not be distributed yet. In
part because the litigation is still proceeding against the remaining
defendants, there is no plan to allocate the money now; thus it is not
possible to determine the amount of Class member payments, or what the
average payment will be on a per share or per bond basis. Payments
will depend on the number of valid claim forms that Class members
eventually send in, how many shares of Parmalat stock they bought or
how many bonds they bought, when they bought and sold them, and the
prices they paid.
A neutral Court website has been established at
www.ParmalatSettlement.com , where notices
and the Settlement
Stipulation may be obtained. Those affected may also write to Parmalat
Notice Administrator, PO Box 4068, Portland, OR 97208-4068, USA.
CONTACT: Press Only:
Class Counsel:
Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C.
Mark S. Willis, 202-408-4606
or
Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.
James Sabella, 646-722-8500
or
Spector Roseman & Kodroff, P.C.
Robert M. Roseman, 215-496-0300
KEYWORD: NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL EUROPE
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: LEGAL/LAW FOODS/BEVERAGES RETAIL CLASS ACTION
LAWSUITS
SOURCE: The United States District Court for the Southern District
of New York
Copyright Business Wire 2007
(670)
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