NEW YORK, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Firm of Cauley Geller Bowman & Rudman, LLP announced today that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of purchasers of Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Watson” or the “Company”) common stock during the period between November 2, 1999 and November 13, 2001, inclusive (the “Class Period”). 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.cauleygeller.com/show_case.asp?ccode=191&pcode=10&pp=4 .
The complaint alleges that Watson and certain of its officers and directors violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing materially false and misleading statements concerning the Company’s business. In particular, the Complaint alleges that defendants’ statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material facts: (a) that Watson was materially overstating its financial results by failing to write down the value of its inventories and the value of certain of the Company’s assets; (b) that Watson was experiencing significantly increased competition for generic drugs and was also experiencing manufacturing difficulties; and (c) that based on the foregoing, defendants’ positive statements about the Company were lacking in a reasonable basis at all times and were therefore materially false and misleading. Prior to the disclosure of the true facts about the Company, defendants used millions of shares of Watson common stock to acquire other businesses.
On November 13, 2001, Watson shocked the market when it announced its financial results for third quarter 2001 which were well below expectations. Furthermore, the Company announced that it was writing off almost all of its investment in Dilacor XR and that the Company was writing off over $20 million in additional impaired inventory. In response to this negative announcement, the price of Watson common stock plummeted, trading down almost $20 per share, to close trading at $28.54 per share, compared to the prior day’s close of $47.15 per share, on tremendous volume of over 15.3 million shares traded -- almost 20 times the average trading volume for Watson shares.
If you bought Watson common stock between November 2, 1999 and November 13, 2001, inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than January 12, 2004. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.cauleygeller.com/template8.asp?pcode=6&pp=1 . Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through Cauley Geller or other counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
Cauley Geller is a national law firm that represents investors and consumers in class action and corporate governance litigation. It is one of the country’s premiere firms in the area of securities fraud, with in-house finance and forensic accounting specialists and extensive trial experience. Since its founding, Cauley Geller has recovered in excess of two billion dollars on behalf of aggrieved shareholders. The firm maintains offices in Boca Raton, Little Rock and New York.
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 http://www.cauleygeller.com/ .
Contact: CAULEY GELLER BOWMAN & RUDMAN, LLP Samuel H. Rudman, Esq. or David A. Rosenfeld, Esq. Client Relations Department: Jackie Addison or Heather Gann P.O. Box 25438 Little Rock, AR 72221-5438 Toll Free: 1-888-551-9944 Fax: 1-501-312-8505 E-mail: info@cauleygeller.com
Cauley Geller Bowman & Rudman, LLP
CONTACT: Samuel H. Rudman, Esq. or David A. Rosenfeld, Esq., both ofCauley Geller Bowman & Rudman, LLP, +1-631-367-7100
