CHICAGO, Jan. 14, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, P.C. announces that class action lawsuits are pending in various federal courts on behalf of purchasers of the following securities during the periods set forth below:
Company Class Period Aetna, Inc. 12/1/00 - 04/09/01 (NYSE:AET) Corning, Inc. purchases pursuant to a (NYSE:GLW) prospectus dated 11/3/00 Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. 2/24/00 - 12/17/01 (Nasdaq:TTWO) A.C.L.N., Ltd. (NYSE:ASW) 6/29/00 - 12/20/01
Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, P.C. is currently investigating potential claims against these companies. If you purchased securities in any of these companies during the periods listed and wish to discuss your rights and interests in any of these matters, or if you have information relevant to the alleged misconduct described below, you may contact the following attorneys at Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, P.C., Carol V. Gilden, or Michael E. Moskovitz, at a toll-free number 1-800-470-6824, or via e-mail at cgilden@muchlaw.com or mmoskovitz@muchlaw.com. Any e-mail should refer to the company or companies that affect you. A description of the investigations follows:
Aetna, Inc. (NYSE:AET)
Much Shelist's investigation is focused on whether Aetna, Inc. (NYSE:AET), William H. Donaldson (Chairman of the Board) and John W. Rowe (Chief Executive Officer, President and Director) violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market between December 1, 2000 and April 9, 2001. It is believed that during the Class Period, Aetna, Donaldson and Rowe announced that they had reached a definitive agreement to sell Aetna's financial services and international businesses to ING Groep N.V. and, in an integrated transaction, that Aetna planned to spin-off its domestic healthcare and large case pensions businesses in the form of New Aetna, to its shareholders. In order to successfully spin-off New Aetna, its domestic healthcare and large case pensions businesses, Aetna, Donaldson and Rowe represented that New Aetna was successfully implementing operative and strategic initiatives to improve efficiency and decrease medical costs. These statements were allegedly false and misleading because medical costs were in fact escalating due to, among other factors, overpaying and double-paying claims and inadequate risk-enrollment pricing. On April 10, 2001, before the market opened, Aetna announced that its first quarter of 2001 financial results would be significantly lower than previous estimates due to higher utilization of healthcare services in the fourth quarter 2000 and the first quarter 2001. Aetna announced that it expected to record in the first quarter approximately $90 million before tax of additional medical costs related to services performed in prior periods, primarily the fourth quarter 2000. The remainder reflected a fourth quarter commercial HMO medical cost trend, based on current information, of approximately 13%, compared to the 12% that was estimated previously. As a result of this announcement, the price of Aetna's common stock plunged from $36.15 on April 9, 2001 to a low of $28.75 on April 10, 2001, a decrease of over 20% on heavy trading volume.
Corning, Inc. (NYSE:GLW)
Much Shelist is investigating whether Corning, Inc. (NYSE:GLW) violated Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 by issuing a materially false and misleading Registration Statement and Prospectus (collectively, the "Prospectus"), dated November 3, 2000, in connection with its offering of common stock and debentures in November 2000 (the "Offering"). Specifically, Much Shelist is investigating whether the Prospectus was materially false and misleading, among other reasons, because it stated that demand for Corning's products was robust, because it omitted to disclose that Corning was amassing hundreds of millions of dollars of obsolete inventory that would have to be written-off, and because, given the foregoing, the projection of 25% earnings growth in 2001, contained in the Prospectus, was lacking in a reasonable basis at all times. On July 10, 2001, Corning announced that it was taking a $5.1 billion charge primarily related to two recent acquisitions, that it would also write-off $300 million in excess and obsolete inventory, and that it would cut 1,000 jobs and close three plants. On July 25, 2001, Corning reported a massive second-quarter loss of $4.76 billion, or $5.13 per share. Corning's shares closed that day at $13.77, down 80% from the Offering price.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (Nasdaq:TTWO)
Much Shelist is investigating whether Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (Nasdaq:TTWO), Ryan A. Brant (Take-Two's CEO until February 26, 2001, thereafter Chairman), Kelly G. Sumner (a director until February 26, 2001, thereafter CEO), James H. David Jr. (CFO since Take-Two's third quarter of fiscal year 2000), Paul Eibeler (President and director) and Larry Muller (CFO until the third quarter of Take-Two's fiscal year 2000) violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements to the market between February 24, 2000 and December 17, 2001, concerning its financial performance for its fiscal year 2000 and the first three quarters of its fiscal year 2001. Throughout the Class Period, defendants issued press releases reporting Take-Two's quarterly and year-end financial performance, and filed reports confirming such performance with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports positively portrayed Take-Two's performance during the Class Period and discussed several quarters of supposedly "record" results. It is believed that these statements were materially false and misleading because Take-Two had, throughout the Class Period, improperly recognized revenues, thereby inflating its reported sales and earnings. On December 14, 2001, the price of Take-Two's stock plunged 31%, falling from $15.05 to $10.33, as news leaked that Take-Two would likely restate previously filed financial reports. On December 17, 2001 Take-Two issued a press release announcing that it will restate its financial results for its fiscal year 2000 and the first three quarters of its fiscal year 2001. According to the press release, Take-Two had improperly recognized revenue on products that were subsequently returned to it. For fiscal year 2000, the restatement will have the effect of decreasing net sales by $12-$15 million and decreasing net income by $3.1-$3.7 million. For the three quarters of 2001, the restatement will have the effect of decreasing net sales by approximately $9.5 million and increasing net income by $0.3 million.
A.C.L.N., Ltd. (NYSE:ASW)
Much Shelist is investigating whether A.C.L.N., Ltd. (NYSE:ASW), Joseph Bisschops ("Bisschops"), Aldo Labiad ("Labiad") and Alex De Ridder ("Ridder") violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing materially false and misleading statements to the market. Beginning on June 29, 2000, and continuing through December 20, 2001, ACLN, Bisschops, Labiad and Ridder issued multiple press releases and filed quarterly and annual reports with the SEC that highlighted ACLN's growth and strong financial performance. It is believed that these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to describe ACLN's true state of financial affairs. Specifically, ACLN, Bisschops, Labiad and Ridder (a) failed to disclose certain self-dealing transactions between Bisschops and certain private entities he controlled; (b) overstated ACLN's assets by listing a shipping vessel, the Sea Atef, as an asset of ACLN when, in fact, ACLN did not own the Sea Atef; (c) understated ACLN's selling, general and administrative expenses, causing ACLN's net income to be overstated; and (d) violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and ACLN's own stated policy with regard to revenue recognition by reporting revenue for the cars that it sold as soon as the ship carrying the cars left the port and not when the shipment was completed. The truth about these statements finally came to light on December 20, 2001 in an article published by Herb Greenberg on TheStreet.com. In response to the questions raised in Greenberg's article, shares of ACLN plunged 64%, falling $16.71 to close at $9.40 per share.
If you purchased securities in any of these companies during the periods listed, and if you meet certain other legal requirements, you may, no later than January 29, 2002 (Aetna), February 5, 2002 (Corning), February 18, 2002 (Take-Two) and February 19, 2002 (A.C.L.N.), move the respective court where the lawsuit(s) have been filed to serve as a 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. The requirements for serving as a lead plaintiff are set forth in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. section 78u-4).
The law firm of Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, P.C., represents plaintiffs in class action and complex litigation. The firm has extensive experience in representing plaintiffs in class action litigation and has successfully prosecuted cases throughout the United States involving antitrust violations, securities fraud, consumer fraud, unlawful business practices and insurance company fraud. Much Shelist's leadership role in major cases over the past 25 years has resulted in settlements and judgments in those cases in excess of $4 billion to class members.
More information on these and other class actions can be found on theClass Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca