NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm of Wechsler Harwood Halebian & Feffer LLP ("Wechsler Harwood") announces that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf all persons who purchased or acquired Sonus Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:SONS) ("Sonus" or the "Company") securities between December 11, 2000 and January 16, 2002, inclusive (the "Class Period") against defendants Sonus and certain of its officers.
The Complaint alleges that defendants 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 11, 2000 and January 16, 2002, thereby artificially inflating the price of Sonus securities. The complaint alleges that defendants issued numerous statements which highlighted the Company's financial performance and described the Company's success in acquiring and/or developing new products which it was then able to offer to current and prospective customers. As alleged in the complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (1) that certain products that Sonus claimed it had sold to Qwest Communications International, Inc. ("Qwest") would not be ready for deployment in time to meet Qwest's needs and would result in Qwest having to purchase competing products from Nortel; (2) that the Company's highly-touted transaction with Qwest, which contributed more than 10% of Sonus' first quarter 2001 revenues, was actually a quid pro quo deal wherein Sonus had to agree to buy a $20 million Irrevocable Right of Use ("IRUs") from Qwest in exchange for a $20 million order from Qwest; (3) that contrary to defendants' representations, Sonus' products were not carrier class as they did not have 99.999% availability, did not have voice quality as good as circuit-switched networks and did not have sophisticated network management and configuration capabilities; and (4) as a result, Sonus was not on track to report revenues of $195 million in 2001.
On January 16, 2002, the last day of the Class Period, Sonus announced its disappointing fourth quarter and year-end 2001 results and revealed that revenues for the year were just $173 million compared to Class Period estimates exceeding $200 million. Following this announcement, shares of Sonus stock fell below $5 per share.
If you are a member of the Class described above, and if you meet certain other legal requirements, you may, no later than September 16, 2002, move the Court 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." 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).
Wechsler Harwood has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded shareholders. The Wechsler Harwood website (www.whhf.com) has more information about the firm. 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 Halebian & Feffer LLP 488 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor New York, New York 10022 Toll Free Telephone: (877) 935-7400 Craig Lowther, Wechsler Harwood Shareholder Relations Department: clowther@whhf.com
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.