MILWAUKEE, March 8, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm of Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP announces that a class action lawsuit was filed on March 8, 2002, on behalf of purchasers of the securities of Kmart Corporation ("Kmart" or the "Company") (NYSE:KM) between May 17, 2001 and January 25, 2002, inclusive. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be obtained by contacting Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP.
The action is pending in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, located at 814 Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse, 231 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226, against defendant Charles Conaway. The Honorable Gerald E. Rosen has been assigned to the case.
The Complaint alleges that defendant 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 May 17, 2001 and January 25, 2002, thereby artificially inflating the price of Kmart securities. Prior to and throughout the Class Period, as alleged in the complaint, Kmart and defendant Conaway represented that the Company was engaged in a comprehensive restructuring of the Company's operations which were revitalizing the Company and its sales. The complaint alleges that these representations were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and misrepresented the following adverse material facts: (a) that Kmart's purported revitalization was a complete failure as the Company was continuing to lose market share to competitors and the Company's purported efforts to reverse this trend were not meeting with success; (b) that the Company's supply chain management was extremely problematic as the Company's distribution centers were outdated and inefficient and the Company's supply chain software was plagued by bugs and glitches, which were causing the Company to experience inventory problems. As a result of these supply chain management issues, the Company was experiencing difficulties routing inventory to stores, thereby negatively impacting the Company's sales; and (c) that the Company was experiencing substantial liquidity problems which would necessitate a major restructuring of the Company's operations and possibly a bankruptcy filing, which ultimately happened.
If you bought the securities of Kmart between May 17, 2001 and January 25, 2002, you may, no later than April 22, 2002, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. 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. You may retain Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP is active in major litigation pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States. 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:
More information about this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca