BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Oct. 9, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP announced today that it recently filed lawsuits on behalf of shareholders of Internet Infrastructure Holdrs Depositary Receipts, Asia Pulp & Paper Company, Ltd., Metromedia Fiber Network, Inc. and CVS Corporation for violations of the federal securities laws.
If you purchased the securities of any of the companies listed below during the respective class periods, you may be a member of the class and have until the date specified to move the court to become the lead plaintiff. For more information on a particular lawsuit and to view the complaint, you may visit our Website at www.sbclasslaw.com. To learn more about your rights and interests in these cases and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway directly at 888-299-7706 (toll free) or 610-667-7706, fax number 610-667-7056 or by e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com.
INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDRS DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS (AMEX:IIH) (Class Period: 02/24/00 - 12/06/00). The complaint alleges that the Internet Infrastructure Depositary Receipts were "basket securities" whose price was directly related to, and moved with, the price of 20 underlying securities held in the Internet Infrastructure Holdrs trust. The complaint further alleges that defendants violated the federal securities laws by issuing and selling Internet Infrastructure Holdrs Depositary Receipts in an IPO on February 24, 2000, pursuant to a registration statement and prospectus that were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose that a substantial proportion of the Internet Infrastructure Holdrs trust's initial portfolio consisted of stocks whose prices had been artificially inflated through the use of improper practices relating to their initial public offering, and that they therefore traded at artificially inflated prices. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than October 15, 2001.
ASIA PULP & PAPER COMPANY, LTD. (NYSE:PAP) (Class Period: 09/08/98 - 04/04/01). The complaint charges Asia Pulp & Paper and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Asia Pulp & Paper issued press releases and filed financial statements which failed to disclose, among other things, that the Company had entered into two swap contracts involving Indonesian rupiah/US dollar and Japanese yen/US dollar swaps. On April 4, 2001, Asia Pulp & Paper finally disclosed that it was in default of $220 million of swap contracts that had not been disclosed on its financial statements for fiscal years 1997 to 2000. The stunning announcement followed a steady stream of news reports that Asia Pulp & Paper was facing a strong decline in its business and, as a result, was unable to service its debt. During the Class Period, Asia Pulp & Paper was able to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in much needed capital through the issuance of bonds and a secondary offering of its American Depositary Shares. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than October 22, 2001.
METROMEDIA FIBER NETWORK, INC. (Nasdaq:MFNX) (Class Period: 01/08/01 - 07/02/01). The complaint charges Metromedia and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements regarding its business and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants issued multiple press releases announcing Metromedia's receipt of a $350 million credit facility from Citicorp USA, Inc. ("Citicorp") which would enable Metromedia to complete the construction of an extensive fiber optic network. These statements were materially false and misleading because defendants failed to disclose that: (1) the Citicorp credit facility was contingent on the receipt of additional commitments from other lenders and that Metromedia was experiencing difficulty obtaining such commitments given the distressed market for telecom companies; (2) the further development of the Company's fiber optic network would be significantly delayed without obtaining the credit facility which was dependent on obtaining the necessary additional loan commitments; and (3) based on the foregoing, defendants' statements about the Company and its prospects were lacking in a reasonable basis at all times. Finally, on July 2, 2001, Metromedia issued a press release announcing that it received an extension of the commitment letter for its $350 million credit facility from Citicorp and revealed for the first time that the commitment letter from Citicorp was subject to the receipt of commitments from other lenders in the amount of $287.5 million. In response to this announcement, shares of Metromedia's stock closed at $1.95 per share on July 2, 2001, a far cry from the class period high of $19.06 reached on January 19, 2001. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than October 22, 2001.
CVS CORPORATION (NYSE:CVS) (Class Period: 02/06/01 - 06/27/01). The complaint charges CVS and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements regarding its business and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, CVS issued positive statements concerning its business and operations which failed to disclose, among other things, that the Company was unable to successfully address the national shortage of pharmacists and that this shortage was negatively impacting CVS's business and that the Company's expansion plans would have to be scaled back in light of the difficulties facing the Company. When this information became publicly known on June 27, 2001, the price of CVS common stock dropped sharply, falling from $44.10 per share to $36.51 per share on extremely heavy trading volume. During the Class Period, CVS insiders were able to dispose of shares of their personally held stock for gross proceeds in excess of $8 million and CVS was able to raise $300 million through the issuance of notes on highly favorable terms. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than October 22, 2001.
Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP has prosecuted shareholder class actions for over fourteen years and has recovered more than $1 billion for investors. If you are a shareholder in any of the companies listed above and would like to be a lead plaintiff in one of these securities class actions, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway at 888-299-7706.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca