MIAMI, May 28, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- AeroThrust Corporation and its parent company, Windstar Capital LLC, today announced that they have filed suit in federal court against Saab AB of Linkoping, Sweden, for fraud and related charges arising out of their 2001 purchase of AeroThrust from Saab.
The suit alleges that Saab and its subsidiaries failed to disclose the loss of two key customers just prior to the closing of the transaction, as was required under the purchase agreement. The suit alleges that Saab knew that the loss of these customers - representing almost half of AeroThrust's sales - devastated the value of AeroThrust. The suit alleges that Saab and its senior executives concealed this information and ordered the swift closing of a transaction, in order to get AeroThrust off Saab's books at an inflated value, avoid a write-off for Swedish accounting purposes, and prevent the purchaser from learning of the deception.
The suit, filed in the Southern District of Florida, seeks $70 million in damages, among other penalties. Copies of the complaint are available from the contacts below.
AeroThrust (www.aerothrust.com) is the largest independent jet engine overhaul facility in the United States of America specializing in the repair, overhaul, sale and lease of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D family of engines. Since 1967 AeroThrust has specialized in the repair of thousands of JT8D-Basic and JT8D-200 engines for airline, lessor, cargo and charter operators around the globe. Windstar Capital LLC is an investment firm specializing in aerospace LBO's, financial restructurings, and turnarounds.
Saab AB is publicly traded on the Stockholm and other European exchanges, and is one of Sweden's largest companies.