NEW YORK, May 13, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shareholders of Advanced Battery Technologies, Inc. ("Advanced Battery" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:ABAT) are reminded of the securities class action lawsuit filed against Advanced Battery and certain of its officers. The class action (11 Civ. 2849), pending in the Southern District of New York, is on behalf of a class of all persons who purchased Advanced Battery securities during the period from November 24, 2008 through and including March 29, 2011 (the "Class Period"). The Complaint alleges violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.
If you are a shareholder who purchased Advanced Battery securities during the Class Period and would like to serve as Lead Plaintiff for the class, you have until May 31, 2011 to seek appointment from the Court. A copy of the complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Rachelle R. Boyle at rrboyle@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529, toll free. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address and telephone number.
The Complaint alleges that Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the Company's claimed distribution relationships with certain manufacturers of electric motorcycles and scooters were false; (2) the Company's reported financial statements were grossly inflated by including gross profit margins which were unrealistic for similar companies in its industry; (3) the Company paid $1.5 million to acquire a company that is non-existent; (4) the Company paid $20 million to purchase a company, but failed to disclose the related party nature of the transaction; (5) the Company paid $22 million to acquire another company without disclosing that it was a bailout of a related company; (6) the Company misrepresented that it owned a Company subsidiary when it did not, or the Company failed to disclose that it entered into a related party transaction with the Company's Chairman and CEO which resulted in the owner of that subsidiary being the Chairman and CEO, and not ABAT; (7) the Company lacked adequate internal and financial controls; and (8) as a result of the foregoing, the Company's statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On March 30, 2011, Varient View Research ("Varient") published a report concluding "that the financial statements and management of ABAT cannot be trusted and therefore the stock is worth zero." Varient claimed, among other things, that: (1) the Chairman transferred ownership of ABAT's key subsidiary to himself without explanation or compensation; (2) ABAT leads investors to think that it makes cutting-edge electric cars, when in fact it produces cheap scooters and bicycles; and (3) several of ABAT's distribution relationships are non-existent.
On this news, the Company's shares declined $1.50 per share, or nearly 43%, to close on March 30, 2011, at $2.01 per share, on unusually heavy trading volume.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 70 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.