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TORONTO (June 13, 2006): The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) today announced a US$311 million cash settlement agreement has been reached in the securities class action against The Williams Companies, Inc., certain of its directors and officers, its auditor, and its underwriters.
OTPP is the court-appointed co-lead plaintiff in the Williams Securities Litigation pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. OTPP, with co-lead plaintiff the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, led the prosecution of this action on behalf of a class of investors who purchased Williams securities between July 24, 2000 and July 22, 2002.
This settlement was reached shortly before trial was scheduled to commence. It follows intensive litigation, during which the lead plaintiffs engaged in a massive discovery effort, including more than 180 depositions and reviews of more than 18 million pages of documents.
The allegations in the complaint relate to Williams’ former telecommunications subsidiary Williams Communications, Inc. (“WCG”) and Williams’ energy trading operation, known at the time as Energy Marketing & Trading (“EM&T”). Included is Williams’ alleged failure to provide timely disclosure that it would incur a multi-billion dollar loss in connection with Williams’ guarantees of certain WCG financial obligations. The lead plaintiffs also allege that the defendants had non-public information about WCG showing that WCG’s financial condition was worse than public disclosures during the class period indicated.
In connection with Williams’ EM&T business, the complaint alleges that Williams manipulated the valuation of its long-term energy contracts in the midst of the California energy crisis in 2001. Based on these valuations, the lead plaintiffs allege that Williams inflated earnings by hundreds of millions of dollars during the class period.
The complaint, which was filed on October 7, 2002, alleges securities claims under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933.
This settlement represents the largest securities class action recovery in the history of Oklahoma.
Commenting on the settlement, President and Chief Executive Officer, OTPP, Claude Lamoureux stated: “This recovery is an excellent example of the positive impact that institutional investors can have in securities class actions. On behalf of the 264,000 retired and active teachers for whom we invest, we are glad that U.S. securities laws have the teeth needed to obtain this kind of settlement from defendants, as they allow shareholders’ rights to be upheld and at least partial compensation for losses to be achieved.”
The settlement is subject to approval by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Claims on behalf of purchasers of WCG securities are the subject of a separate lawsuit still pending before the court.
Lead plaintiffs were represented by Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, court-appointed lead counsel.
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is an independent corporation responsible for investing the $96 billion fund and administering the pensions of Ontario’s 163,000 elementary and secondary school teachers and 101,000 retired teachers.
Contact:
Deborah Allan
Director, Communications and Media Relations
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
(416) 730-5347
deborah_allan@otpp.com |
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