BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Aug. 27, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP announced today that it recently filed lawsuits on behalf of shareholders of Marconi, PLC, U.S. Wireless Corporation, ConAgra Foods, Inc. and Rambus, Inc. for violations of the federal securities laws.
If you purchased the securities of any of the companies listed below during the respective class periods, you may be a member of the class and have until the date specified to move the court to become the lead plaintiff. For more information on a particular lawsuit and to view the complaint, you may visit our website at www.sbclasslaw.com. To learn more about your rights and interests in these cases and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway directly at 888-299-7706 (toll free) or 610-667-7706, fax number 610-667-7056 or by e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com.
MARCONI, PLC (Nasdaq:MONI) (Class Period: 04/11/01 - 07/04/01). The complaint charges Marconi and certain of its officers and directors with issuing a series of material misrepresentations concerning demand for its products. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants issued several press releases in which they assured investors that the Company would experience an increase in its revenues in the current year and that, despite earnings warnings from most of its competitors, the Company saw no need to change its guidance. On July 4, 2001, however, defendants finally disclosed that they were, in fact, experiencing a slowdown in customer spending and, as a result, the Company expected sales to fall more than 15% and operating profit to fall 50% for the year ending March 2002. The market's reaction to this announcement was immediate and punitive. When shares reopened for trading on July 5, 2001, after having been suspended pending this announcement, the price per share of Marconi American Depositary Receipts dropped by over 50% to close at $3.35 per share, significantly below the Class Period high of $12.50 per share. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than September 7, 2001.
U.S. WIRELESS CORPORATION (Nasdaq:USWC) (Nasdaq:USWCE) (Class Period: 07/14/98 - 05/25/01). The complaint charges U.S. Wireless and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges that during the Class Period, in order to conceal their self dealing transactions, defendants caused the Company to falsely report its results for fiscal 2000 through improper characterization of the benefit and the beneficiaries of the issuance of shares of the Company's stock. As a result of this mischaracterization, the Company's net loss attributable to common shareholders was understated by $6.2 million, or 35%. Ultimately, U.S. Wireless revealed that its results for fiscal 2000 were in error and would be restated to record the share issuances at fair market value and record a loss of $5.3 million for the shares and $0.9 million for certain tax effects. Absent defendants' improper accounting, the Company would have reported much less favorable fiscal 2000 earnings. On May 29, 2001, Nasdaq issued an unusual press release entitled "Nasdaq Halts Trading of U.S. Wireless Corporation and Requests Additional Information from Company." As a result of this news, U.S. Wireless shares were halted from trading at $2.91, 88% lower than the Class Period high of $24.50. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than September 10, 2001.
CONAGRA FOODS, INC. (NYSE:CAG) (Class Period: 08/28/98 - 05/23/01). The complaint charges ConAgra and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial business. Specifically, the complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants issued press releases reporting ConAgra's quarterly and year-end financial performance, and filed reports confirming such performance with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). These statements, as alleged in the complaint, were materially false and misleading because United Agri Products, a ConAgra subsidiary, engaged in improper accounting throughout the Class Period, including improperly recognizing revenue and insufficiently reserving for bad debt. On May 23, 2001 ConAgra issued a press release announcing that the Company will restate its financial results for the fiscal years 1998, 1999 and 2000. The press release revealed that ConAgra will restate revenues for the Company's fiscal years 1998-2000, inclusive, which will be reduced by an estimated total of $349 million. The press release further revealed that the Company estimated that, upon restatement, earnings per share will be reduced from $1.35 to $1.32 for 1998, from $1.46 to $1.41 for 1999, and from $1.67 to $1.60 for 2000. Furthermore, according to the press release, the Company is cooperating with an ongoing investigation by the SEC into the matter. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than October 9, 2001.
RAMBUS, INC. (Nasdaq:RMBS) (Class Period: 01/18/00 - 05/09/01). The complaint charges Rambus and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning, among other things: (i) the undisclosed fact that Rambus had engaged in fraudulent activity in order to obtain purportedly valuable patents on SDRAM computer memory and memory related technologies which enable semiconductor memory devices to keep pace with faster generations of processors and controllers; (ii) the true enforceability and viability of Rambus' SDRAM patents and the true risks involved with investing in Rambus stock during the Class Period; (iii) the effects these adverse undisclosed actions were having and would continue to have on the company's growth and earnings prospects; and (iv) that company insiders, certain of which are named as defendants in the action, sold or otherwise disposed of over $125 million of their privately held Rambus stock while in possession of undisclosed material adverse information regarding the true validity of the company's SDRAM patents, including the undisclosed fact that such patents were obtained by defendants' fraud. It was only after defendants sold or otherwise disposed of their privately held stock that, on May 9, 2001, investors learned the truth about Rambus, when a jury in a patent infringement suit filed by Rambus against one of its competitors, Infineon Technologies, AG, determined that Rambus' SDRAM patents had been obtained by fraud. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than October 9, 2001.
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 in any of the companies listed above and would like to be a lead plaintiff in one of these securities class actions, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway at 888-299-7706.
More information on these and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.