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Court to Notify Parmalat Investors of Partial Settlement of Class Action Lawsuit

Posted on: Thursday, 17 July 2008, 18:00 CDT

NEW YORK, July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A multi-national notification program has begun, as ordered by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, to alert investors, brokers, financial institutions, and other nominees who bought the common stock and/or bonds of Parmalat Finanziaria S.p.A. and its subsidiaries and affiliates from January 5, 1999 through and including December 18, 2003 about a partial settlement of a class action.

The lawsuit alleges that Parmalat and numerous other defendants participated in a fraudulent financial scheme, resulting in the understatement of Parmalat's debt and the overstatement of its net assets. Parmalat ultimately filed for bankruptcy, and the value of its securities declined.

The partial settlement resolves the case against Parmalat S.p.A. and will result in Parmalat providing 10,500,000 shares of stock in the Parmalat company that has emerged from reorganization proceedings in Italy. That stock will then either be sold, and money paid to Class members, or the stock will be distributed among Class Members.

Parmalat agreed to provide 10,500,000 shares in the reorganized Parmalat company to compensate Class members and to pay attorneys' fees, expenses and administrative costs. The Court defined "Class members" in the settlement to include all people and entities who bought Parmalat common stock and/or bonds from January 5, 1999 through and including December 18, 2003, and were damaged thereby, regardless of where such people live or where they purchased their Parmalat securities.

In May 2004, the Court appointed the law firms of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C, of Washington, D.C. and Grant & Eisenhofer, P.A., of Wilmington, DE, to represent the Class, and the law firm of Spector, Roseman & Kodroff, P.C., of Philadelphia, PA, has served as counsel. These firms have been litigating this case known as In re Parmalat Securities Litigation, No. 04 MD 1653 (LAK), since that time, and they negotiated the partial settlement.

Class members may go to the website (http://www.parmalatsettlement.com/) to view the notice of the settlement, register and complete the claim form online, request that a claim form be mailed to them, or call (after July 25, 2008) US Toll Free 1-800-713-9910 or International (Toll): 1+ 503-626-0306. If a Class member does not receive the notice in the mail directly, they should register as soon as possible. Notices informing Class members about their legal rights are scheduled to appear in publications reaching readers in the United States, Italy, and around the world, leading up to a hearing in New York on September 24, 2008, when the Court will consider whether to approve the settlement. Class members may also now exclude themselves from the partial settlement, or object to the terms of the proposed settlement. The deadline for exclusions and objections is September 15, 2008 and the deadline for submitting a claim form is January 12, 2009.

A website has been established at http://www.parmalatsettlement.com/, where notices (in multiple languages) and the Settlement Stipulation may be obtained. Those affected may also write to the Parmalat Securities Litigation Claims Administrator, PO Box 4068, Portland, OR 97208-4068, USA. You may also call (after July 25, 2008) US Toll Free 1-800-713-9910 or International (Toll): 1+ 503-626-0306.

Parmalat Settlement Notice and Claims Administrator, at Epiq Systems,

CONTACT: Class Counsel, Lisa Mezzetti, Esq., of Cohen, Milstein,Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C., +1-202-408-4606; or James Sabella, Esq., of Grant &Eisenhofer P.A., +1-646-722-8500; or Robert M. Roseman, Esq., of SpectorRoseman & Kodroff, P.C., +1-215-496-0300

Web site: http://www.parmalatsettlement.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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