BALA CYNWYD, Pa., July 1, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- A shareholder sued Alcatel S.A. ("Alcatel" or the "Company") relating to Alcatel's Class O common shares (Nasdaq:ALAO) claiming that the company misled investors about its business and financial condition, as alleged in a complaint filed by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and seeks damages for violations of federal securities laws on behalf of all investors who bought Alcatel S.A. securities between Alcatel's Class A common shares (NYSE:ALA) and Class O common shares in the form of ADSs between October 20, 2000 and May 29, 2001 (the "Class Period").
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 of Alacatel S.A. and want to learn more about this lawsuit and about becoming a lead plaintiff, you may visit our website at http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi.
The complaint alleges that the France-based Alacatel S.A. issued a prospectus for the sale of Class O stock in the form of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) that purportedly would track the performance of Alcatel's Optronics Division. The Prospectus was materially false and misleading, as alleged in the complaint, because it failed to disclose (a) that demand for the Company's optical components was weakening as Alcatel and the Optronics Division's other customers were experiencing severe and persistent business slowdowns; (b) that the purportedly increasing demand for the Optronics Division's optical components was the result of a massive inventory build at the Optical Division's primary customer, Alcatel, and at the Company's external customers; ( c) that the Company was amassing hundreds of millions of dollars of obsolete inventory which would have to be written-off; and that (d) in light of the decreasing demand for optical components, the Company was not in a position to successfully promote sales of all product lines to outside customers.
Subsequently, on May 29, 2001, Alcatel issued an unexpected and severe profit warning and separately announced that it expected to report a second-quarter loss of approximately $2.6 billion. Following this announcement, the price of Alcatel Class O common shares, in the form of ADSs, declined by 11% from a closing price of $21.26 on May 29, 2001 to a closing price of $18.92 on May 30, 2001. Similarly, Alcatel Class A common shares, in the form of ADSs declined by 8.8% from $27.14 to 24.74.
If you purchased Alacatel S.A. securities between between Alcatel's Class A common shares (NYSE:ALA) and Class O common shares in the form of ADSs between October 20, 2000 and May 29, 2001, you may be a member of the class and have until July 16, 2002 to move the court to become a lead plaintiff. To learn more about your rights and interests in this case and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway directly at 888-299-7706 (toll free) or 610-822-2221, fax number 610-822-0002, e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com or visit our website at www.sbclasslaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.