• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Lawyers to Assist Individual Livedoor Shareholders

Posted on: Monday, 20 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Feb. 18--TOKYO -- Some lawyers are preparing to form a group to assist individual investors who have suffered huge losses due to a plunge in the stock price of Livedoor Co. since prosecutors launched a probe into an alleged securities law violation by the company, sources close to the move said Saturday.

The lawyers will study what remedial measures should be taken, including an option for the investors to file a class action suit against former Livedoor President Takafumi Horie and other former executives of the company to seek compensation for the stock losses, the sources said.

The Livedoor stock price has tumbled by more than 90 percent since prosecutors raided the Internet company on Jan. 16 on suspicion of spreading false information about a corporate takeover by a subsidiary and inflating the unit's earnings results.

The price briefly dropped to 55 yen, compared with its Jan. 16 closing price of 696 yen before the prosecutors' raid. On Friday, it closed at 87 yen.

The lawyers, who are well-versed in financial and consumer issues, have decided to jointly work to assist individuals holding Livedoor shares after offering telephone counseling to them late last month, the sources said.

Some investors told the lawyers they suffered losses worth several hundred million yen. The investors also said their losses were due to inaccurate information provided by Livedoor, and that they want to file a class action suit against the company.

On Feb. 13, Horie and three other former Livedoor executives were indicted on charges of violating the Securities and Exchange Law in connection with the allegations involving the subsidiary, Livedoor Marketing Co.

The prosecutors are expected to serve fresh arrest warrants on them on suspicion of falsifying the parent company's financial figures.

The lawyers believe the investors will be eligible to seek compensation for the stock losses if Horie and others are found guilty of falsifying Livedoor's financial statements.

As of the end of last September, Livedoor had some 220,000 shareholders. Most of them, or 219,000, were individuals.

-----

To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com

Copyright (c) 2006, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

4753,

Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo

More News in this Category