CHICAGO, Feb. 5, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, P.C. announce 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 Homestore.com, Inc. 7/20/00-12/21/01 (Nasdaq:HOMS) Digital Island, Inc. Holders of common stock during (Nasdaq:ISLD) 5/14/01-8/30/01 Infonet Services Corporation 12/16/99-7/31/01 (NYSE:IN) Globix Corporation 11/16/00-12/27/01 (Nasdaq:GBIX)
Much Shelist 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 Carol V. Gilden, Jean K. Janes or Michael E. Moskovitz at Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, P.C., by calling a toll-free number 1-800-470-6824, or by sending an e-mail to cgilden@muchlaw.com, jjanes@muchlaw.com or mmoskovitz@muchlaw.com. Your e-mail should refer to the company or companies that affect you. A description of the investigations follows:
Homestore.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:HOMS)
Much Shelist is investigating whether Homestore.com violated federal securities laws by issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements regarding its financial results for part of 2000 and the first three quarters of 2001. Beginning on December 21, 2001, Homestore.com has issued a series of press releases admitting accounting improprieties:
* December 21, 2001 -- Homestore.com admitted that its past
accounting for its prior results was inaccurate, and that it would
have to restate certain of its financial statements.
* January 2, 2002 -- Homestore.com admitted that its 2001 revenue
had been overstated by as much as $95 million. Homestore.com
further stated that an internal investigation revealed that
between $54 million and $95 million of barter transactions during
the first three quarters of 2001 were booked incorrectly as
advertising transactions. The restatement could amount to as much
as 27 percent of Homestore.com's revenue during the first three
quarters of 2001. Homestore.com and certain of its officers and
directors also admitted that, "additional material restatements"
may follow, including restatements of financial results for 2000.
* January 16, 2002 -- Homestore.com announced, "additional
disciplinary actions related to the previously announced internal
accounting inquiry. The company has terminated, or accepted
resignations from seven employees, including three who had
previously been placed on administrative leave. The company may
take additional disciplinary measures before the inquiry is
complete."
During the Class Period, Homestore.com stock traded as high of $55 per share, but it closed on December 21, 2001 at $3.60 per share. After Homestore.com admitted its accounting inaccuracies on December 21, 2001, its stock was halted. When trading resumed on January 7, the stock fell to an intra-day low of $1.24 per share.
Digital Island, Inc. (Nasdaq:ISLD)
Much Shelist is investigating whether Digital Island, Cable & Wireless P.L.C., Dali Acquisition Corp., and Ruan F. Ernst, CEO of Digital Island, and the members of the Digital Island board of directors during the Class Period violated federal securities laws by failing to disclose material information to:
* Digital Island shareholders who received an Offer to Purchase from
Cable & Wireless in May and June 2001; and
* Digital Island shareholders who received a proxy statement in
connection with the merger between Digital Island and Cable &
Wireless (the "Proxy Statement"), which was consummated on August
30, 2001.
Specifically, the proposed defendants failed to disclose important contracts between Digital Island and Bloomberg, LLP, and Digital Island and Major League Baseball's Internet media. Those contracts were not disclosed either in the Offer to Purchase or the Proxy Statement. Much Shelist is also investigating whether the proposed defendants violated the all-holders provision of the Williams Act by giving additional consideration to directors and officers of Digital Island, who were also shareholders, in excess of that given to other Digital Island shareholders as an inducement to support Cable & Wireless' Offer to Purchase.
Infonet Services Corporation (NYSE:IN)
Much Shelist is investigating whether Infonet and certain of its officers and directors violated federal securities laws. From December 16, 1999 through July 31, 2001, Infonet saw its stock price soar from its IPO price of $21 per share to as high as $32.93 per share. On August 31, 2001, Infonet shares closed at $3.55. During the Class Period, Infonet misrepresented and concealed the following facts about the true status of its AT&T-Unisource Communications Services N.V. ("AUCS") business:
* Infonet would be required to migrate the customer before offering
new services, which required, among other things, reconnecting
each customer to a new platform, a time-consuming, complicated and
expensive process;
* The complexity of migration (from company "X" to Infonet) would
cause massive disruptions to Infonet's ability to "upsell" its new
products; and
* Infonet's AUCS business required massive upgrades, both in its
financial data and billing systems, preventing Infonet from
billing its customers on a monthly basis and delaying the
recognition of material revenue for 1-1/2 years until the upgrades
could be completed.
Much Shelist believes that certain of Infonet's officers and directors knew that disclosure of these problems with its AUCS business would have devastated Infonet's chances of going public, which allowed Infonet to raise $1.1 billion in its December 16, 1999 IPO. Further, Much Shelist believes that Infonet's top executives were determined to conceal the news of the problems associated with Infonet's AUCS business.
Globix Corporation (Nasdaq:GBIX)
Much Shelist is investigating whether Globix, Marc Bell, Peter Herzig and Brian Reach violated federal securities laws regarding its December 27, 2001 shocking announcement that Globix would be effectuating a pre-packaged bankruptcy. Before that announcement, on November 16, 2000, in an effort to stabilize the price of Globix stock and to assuage investor concerns over Globix continuing as going concern, Globix, Bell, Herzig and Reach set forth Globix's business plan, which stated that Globix would be fully funded to fiscal 2003 and thereafter have cash flow positive. This sentiment was repeated in Globix's annual report filed on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission and numerous times thereafter in Globix's press releases and conference calls. Nonetheless, on December 27, 2001, Globix announced that management had been secretly negotiating with its bondholders and preferred stockholders to effectuate a pre-packaged bankruptcy that would result in a near total dilution of the existing common stockholders' interest in Globix.
If you purchased securities in any of these companies during the periods listed and if you meet certain other legal requirements, you may move the respective court where the lawsuit(s) has been filed to serve as a lead plaintiff. You must file your motion no later than:
* Homestore.com, Inc. - February 25, 2002; * Digital Island, Inc. - March 25, 2002; * Infonet Services Corporation - February 22, 2002; and * Globix Corporation - March 15, 2002.
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).
Much Shelist's history is one of experience, leadership and results. For more than 25 years, Much Shelist has represented plaintiffs in class action litigation in federal and state courts across the United States. The firm has successfully prosecuted cases involving securities fraud, antitrust violations, consumer fraud, unlawful business practices and insurance company fraud. Under Much Shelist's leadership, class members have obtained judgments and settlements in excess of $4 billion.
More information on these and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca