NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz Grossman Hufford Dahlstrom & Gross LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against Yum! Brands, Inc., ("Yum" or the "Company") (NYSE:YUM) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Central District of California, and docketed under SACV13-173-AG, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of Yum between October 9, 2012 and January 7, 2013, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). This class action seeks to recover damages against the Company and certain of its officers and directors as a result of alleged violations of the federal securities laws pursuant to Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.
If you are a shareholder who purchased Yum securities during the Class Period, you have until March 25, 2013 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, x237. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address and telephone number.
Yum describes itself as the world's largest quick service restaurant company based on number of system units, with approximately 37,000 units in more than 120 countries and territories. Through the three concepts of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, the Company develops, operates, franchises and licenses a worldwide system of restaurants.
Throughout the Class Period, the Company's defendants made materially false and misleading statements concerning the Company's current and future business and financial condition. In particular, the complaint alleges that (a) the defendants knew but concealed that Yum's own food safety inspections had already found that Chinese chicken supplier Shandong Liuhe Group had sold the Company chickens with high levels of antibiotics and other illegal drugs and /or chemicals; and (b) the Company had continued to buy products from Shandong Liuhe Group until as late as August 2012.
On November 23, 2012, reports in the Chinese media disclosed that certain of the Company's chicken suppliers had been feeding toxic chemicals to chickens sold to KFC China.
On December 20 and 21, 2012, news reports began to circulate that the Company knew well before the Class Period that certain chicken suppliers in China had injected chickens with excessive antibiotics and other illegal chemicals but sought to conceal these facts. As a result of the December 20 and 21, 2012 disclosures, Yum's stock price declined 5% from a close of $67.16 per share on December 19, 2012 to $63.88 per share on December 21, 2012.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, and San Diego, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 70 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.