LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Jan. 9, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Law Firm of Cauley Geller Bowman & Coates, LLP announced today that a class action has been filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of investors of XO Communications, Inc. ("XO" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:XOXO) common stock who object to the transaction announced on November 29, 2001. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the firm's website at http://www.classlawyer.com/pr/xo_communications.pdf.
According to the investors, XO insider Forstmann Little & Co. ("Forstmann Little"), through its representative on XO's Board of Directors, Sandra J. Horbach, entered into a transaction with XO and Telefonos de Mexico S.A. de C.V. ("TelMex") that will transfer control of XO to Forstmann Little at the expense of XO's common stockholders. Common stockholders have been told that their entire equity stake in XO is expected to be wiped out by this transaction.
Daniel F. Akerson ("Akerson"), XO's Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, who is a former general partner of Forstmann Little, is named as a defendant in the action along with Forstmann Little and the other directors of XO. According to the allegations of the complaint, Akerson and other management personnel of XO were quoted over the last year as stating that XO had over a billion dollars in cash available and was funded well into 2002 and 2003. Shareholders who purchased the common stock of XO or continued to hold their common stock in light of these representations were understandably quite surprised when XO announced a rush transaction in which common stockholders' equity stake in XO would be "restructured" out of existence, as indicated in the complaint. The complaint asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty by Forstmann Little, and for violations of the federal securities law by certain XO directors.
The action is brought on behalf of all persons who owned XO common stock as of November 29, 2001 and all persons who purchased XO equity securities from April 2, 2001 through November 29, 2001 (the "Class"), excluding officers, directors and Company insiders. If you are a member of the Class as described, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than February 2, 2002. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.classlawyer.com/sign_up.html. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through Cauley Geller Bowman & Coates, LLP or other counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
Cauley Geller Bowman & Coates, LLP has substantial experience representing investors in securities fraud class action lawsuits such as this. The firm has offices in Florida, Arkansas and California, but represents investors throughout the nation. If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover for your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call or e-mail the Firm or visit the Firm's website at www.classlawyer.com.
CAULEY GELLER BOWMAN & COATES, LLP Investor Relations Department: Jackie Addison, Sue Null or Shelly Nicholson P.O. Box 25438 Little Rock, AR 72221-5438 Toll Free: 1-888-551-9944 E-mail: info@classlawyer.com
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca