NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Wechsler Harwood LLP:
Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all securities purchasers of the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation (NYSE:TOM) ("Tommy Hilfiger" or the "Company") from November 3, 1999 through September 24, 2004 inclusive (the "Class Period").
The complaint charges Tommy Hilfiger, Joel J. Horowitz, Joseph Scirocco, Joel H. Newman, Silas K.F. Chou, Lawrence S. Stroll, James P. Reilly, and David F. Dyer with violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. More specifically, the complaint alleges that the Company failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material adverse facts which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them: (1) that the defendants shifted profits to lower-tax jurisdictions by paying buying-agency commissions to other Tommy Hilfiger subsidiaries; (2) more specifically, the defendants reported revenue generated in the United States as if it were earned in a foreign division, thereby effectively lowering the Company's tax rate; (3) that as a result of this, the Company's financial results were in violation of generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"); (4) that the Company lacked adequate internal controls; and (5) that as a result of the above, the Company's financial results were materially inflated at all relevant times.
On September 24, 2004, after the market closed, Tommy Hilfiger announced that Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A., Inc. ("THUSA"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tommy Hilfiger, had received a grand jury subpoena issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York seeking documents generally relating to THUSA's domestic and/or international buying office commissions since 1990. Certain of THUSA's current and former employees had also received subpoenas. According to the Company, THUSA pays buying office commissions to a non-U.S. subsidiary of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation to provide or otherwise secure certain services, including product development, sourcing, production scheduling and quality control functions. It appears that the investigation is focused on whether the commission rate is appropriate. News of this shocked the market. On September 27, 2004, shares of Tommy Hilfiger fell $2.87 per share, or 21.79 percent, to close at $10.30 per share on unusually high trading volume.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired Tommy Hilfiger securities during the Class Period, you may request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff by November 29, 2004. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Wechsler Harwood, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
Wechsler Harwood has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded shareholders. The Wechsler Harwood website (www.whesq.com) has more information about the firm and detailed information regarding this matter.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Peter Overs, Esq. at Wechsler Harwood toll free at 1-877-935-7400 ext. or via e-mail at povers@whesq.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca