BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Aug. 14, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- A pending class action charges Vivendi Universal, S.A. (NYSE:V) ("Vivendi" or the "Company") with misleading investors about its business and financial condition according to the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Plaintiff seeks damages for violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all investors who purchased Vivendi Universal, S.A. securities between April 23, 2001 and July 2, 2002 (the "Class Period").
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 of Vivendi Universal, S.A. and want to learn more about this lawsuit and about becoming a lead plaintiff, you may visit our website at http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi.
The complaint alleges that Vivendi Universal, S.A.'s false statements artificially inflated Vivendi ADRs to as high as $68.80 per ADR. Defendants reported favorable, but misleading, financial results to the market and represented that Vivendi was not as susceptible to economic problems as competitors and that the Company had the "highest resiliency and lowest sensitivity to recessionary environment." The defendants also represented that Vivendi was successfully implementing recent mergers which were being reorganized quickly to generate synergies. These positive but false statements allowed the Company to complete additional acquisitions in its $100 billion buying spree between 1998 and 2001. In late 6/02, news leaked from Vivendi that its debt was at alarming levels, causing Vivendi's ADRs to decline in price from $28 to $20. Vivendi's ordinary shares declined in similar fashion. Nonetheless, Vivendi's CEO reassured the market that liquidity was not a problem and the ADRs did not totally collapse. However, as ratings agencies continued to downgrade the Company's debt, the ADRs continued to decline. On 7/2/02, Vivendi's debt was downgraded again and the Company was in danger of default. On 7/3/02, Vivendi's CEO was forced to resign. Vivendi ADRs collapsed upon these revelations, falling to $15-21/32 on 7/3/02 on huge volume of 8 million shares.
If you purchased Vivendi Universal, S.A. securities between April 23, 2001 and July 2, 2002, you may be a member of the class and have until September 16, 2002 to move the court to become a lead plaintiff. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the class, however, you do not need to take any action at this time. Should you decide to seek appointment as a lead plaintiff, you may retain Schiffrin & Barroway, or retain counsel of your choice.
To learn more about your rights and interests in this case and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) directly at 888-299-7706 (toll free) or 610-822-2221, fax number 610-822-0002, e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com or visit our website at www.sbclasslaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.