NEW YORK, June 27, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- A class action complaint has been filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (the "Complaint"), on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Daisytek International Corp. ("Daisytek" or the "Company") securities (Nasdaq:DZTK) during the period from November 9, 2001 to April 28, 2003, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). The Complaint names James R. Powell, Ralph Mitchell, Peter Wharf (officers and/or directors of Daisytek and, collectively, the "Individual Defendants") as defendants.
The Complaint alleges that defendants violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by making a series of materially false and misleading statements concerning Daisytek's financial results during the Class Period that artificially inflated the price of Daisytek securities. In particular, the Complaint alleges that Defendants improperly accounted for uncollectible accounts receivable and vendor rebates receivable in order to inflate the Company's financial results. Because of their misconduct, the Individual Defendants were able to sell their personal holdings in the Company's stock for over a million dollars in proceeds. Additionally, the Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, the Individual Defendants permitted the Company to enter into a $200 million credit facility, raise additional capital, and caused Daisytek to benefit economically from their wrongful course of conduct.
On April 28, 2003, Daisytek announced that it expected significant losses as a result of a write-down of customer and vendor receivables on inventory and large restructuring charges. Subsequently, Daisytek announced the resignation of both its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired Daisytek securities during the Class Period, you may request, by July 29, 2003, that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. 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 LLP, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions involving financial fraud, has prosecuted securities, antitrust and consumer class actions for over 10 years. For more information about Wechsler Harwood LLP, please visit its website at www.whesq.com.
If you wish to discuss this action with us, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights and interests with regard to the case, please contact the following:
Wechsler Harwood LLP 488 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor New York, New York 10022 Toll Free Telephone: (877) 935-7400
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca