TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, Feb. 23, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- A Statement of Claim will be filed by no later than March 5, 2004 in the class action against Atlas Cold Storage Inc. and others. A Notice of Action was issued on February 5, 2004, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The action was commenced under the Ontario Class Proceedings Act, 1992.
The plaintiff class seeks damages from Atlas Cold Storage Holdings Inc., the operating arm of Atlas Cold Storage Income Trust, several of its senior Directors and Officers, and the Trustees of the Trust. The action claims for the losses to investors allegedly caused by the recent restatements to the 2001 and 2002 financial statements of Atlas Cold Storage Income Trust. Ernst & Young LLP, the auditors of those financial statements, and BMO Nesbitt Burns, the lead underwriter for Atlas Cold Storage Income Trust, have also been named as defendants.
Kirk M. Baert, counsel for the plaintiff class, said "The case raises very serious issues with respect to the conduct of the defendants. The filing of this action will allow the court to get to bottom of what happened here."
Harvey T. Strosberg, counsel for the plaintiff class, said: "As one of the first class actions commenced against an income trust, this is clearly an important case for Canadian class actions and investor rights." Joseph P. Groia, counsel for the plaintiff class, said: "There have been several restatements of Atlas Cold Storage Income Trust's financial results for 2001 and 2002 causing Canadian investors to suffer considerable losses. The purpose of this claim is to help those investors exercise their legal rights to recover those losses."
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca