NEW YORK, April 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Morgan & Morgan announces that a class action has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of Autoliv, Inc. ("Autoliv or the "Company") (NYSE:ALV) common stock between October 26, 2010 and August 1, 2011 (the "Class Period"). The complaint charges Autoliv and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
If you purchased Autoliv between October 26, 2010 and August 1, 2011, you may, no later than June 17, 2013, request that the Court appoint you lead plaintiff of the proposed class. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
If you purchased Autoliv and want more information about the Autoliv securities fraud class action, please contact George Pressly, Esq. at 1 (800) 631-6234 or email George at AskGeorge@morgansecuritieslaw.com.
The complaint alleges that prior to and during the Class Period, Autoliv engaged in wrongful anti-competitive business practices with other automotive industry suppliers. These practices were designed to control the market prices of the products sold by Autoliv and others. As a result, Autoliv reported quarter after quarter "record" gross margins and earnings during the Class Period, causing artificial inflation in its stock price and seemingly justifying the payment of millions of dollars worth of salary increases and non-equity incentive awards to the Company's executives.
The complaint further alleges that by February 2011, the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") had begun investigating Autoliv's potential antitrust violations. Between the 7th and 9th of June 2011, the antitrust authorities of the European Commission (the "EC") raided Autoliv's German subsidiary, seeking evidence of Autoliv's alleged anti-competitive misconduct. As the market assimilated the news of the EC raid, disclosed on July 8, 2011, followed closely by statements during the Company's July 25, 2011 second quarter earnings conference that the Company had already spent upwards of $4 million on legal fees and could no longer predict what impact the antitrust investigations would have on its previously reported and future gross margins and earnings, the price of Autoliv stock plummeted, closing below $62 per share on August 2, 2011.
On June 6, 2012, the DOJ announced that Autoliv had agreed to plead guilty to price fixing of automobile parts installed in U.S. cars and to pay a $14.5 million criminal fine. In so doing, Autoliv admitted to its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of seatbelts, airbags, and steering wheels installed in U.S. cars to one automobile manufacturer and a separate conspiracy to fix prices of seatbelts to another car manufacturer.
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