CUDAHY, Wis., May 1, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Law Firm of Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP announced today that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, located at 400 S. Phillips Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD 57104, on behalf of purchasers of NorthWestern Corporation (NYSE:NOR) ("NorthWestern" or the "Company") securities, including preferred and common stock, during the period between August 2, 2000 and April 15, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the firm's website at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/NorthWestern.pdf.
If you bought NorthWestern securities, including preferred and common stock, between August 2, 2000 and April 15, 2003, inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 23, 2003. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/NorthWestern.php. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through Ademi & O'Reilly or other counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges NorthWestern and certain of its executive officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. Specifically the Company failed to disclose that: (a) the Company had not maintained adequate reserves for accounts receivable in its subsidiary, Expanets; (b) massive amounts of the Company's goodwill was impaired and would require significant write-downs; (c) that the Company lacked adequate internal controls and was therefore unable to ascertain the true financial condition of the Company; and (d) that as a result, the value of the Company's net income and financial results were materially overstated.
Subsequently, on April 16, 2003, before the market opened, NorthWestern announced that it would take significant charges for fiscal year 2002 totaling $878.5 million. The breakdown of the charges included: (1) an impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets related to one of the Company's subsidiaries Blue Dot Services, Inc. for $301.7 million, (2) an additional impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets related to another Company subsidiary Expanets, Inc. for $288.7 million, (3) a charge for discontinued operations for a third subsidiary CornerStone Propane Partners L.P. for a net of tax benefit of $101.7 million, (4) a valuation allowance of a deferred tax asset for $71.5 million, (5) billing adjustments and accounts receivable write-offs related to Expanets equaling $65.8 million, (6) an impairment of the Montana First Megawatts project for $35.7 million, and (7) the retirement of an acquisition term loan, equaling a net of tax benefit of $13.4 million.
If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover for your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call or e-mail the Firm or visit the Firm's website at www.ademilaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.