Koninklijke Ahold NV : Royal Ahold Corporation Securities on the United States and European stock exchanges

Company and Case Information

IMPORTANT INFORMATION | INDEX OF FILINGS | SEARCH

Home

Index of Filings

News and Press Releases

Filings

Decisions

Settlements

Litigation Activity Indices

Top Ten List

Annual/Quarterly Updates

Clearinghouse Research

Articles & Papers

Search

Related Sites

About Us

Local Rules

Sponsors

Register

_______________
Copyright (c) 2001
Stanford Law School

Koninklijke Ahold NV : Royal Ahold Corporation Securities on the United States and European stock exchanges Summary: According to a press release dated July 28, 2006, Ahold announced that Drs. W.C.M. Oud has voluntarily withdrawn with prejudice his appeal, as announced by Ahold on July 21, 2006, against the final order and judgment approving Ahold's agreement with the lead plaintiffs to settle the securities class action entitled "In re Royal Ahold N.V. Securities & ERISA Litigation." The final order and judgment approving the settlement are no longer subject to appeal.

In a press release dated July 21, 2006, Ahold and the Public Employees' Retirement Association of Colorado ("COPERA"), one of the lead plaintiffs in the securities class action entitled "In re Royal Ahold N.V. Securities & ERISA Litigation", today announced that Drs. W.C.M. Oud has filed a notice of appeal against the final order and judgment of Judge Blake of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, located in Baltimore, approving Ahold's agreement with the lead plaintiffs to settle the securities class action. Mr. Oud's objection was rejected previously by Judge Blake, and Ahold and COPERA believe the appeal has no merit and intend to oppose it.

In a press release dated June 17, 2006, Ahold announced that the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, located in Baltimore, Maryland, has entered a final order and judgment approving Ahold's agreement with the lead plaintiffs to settle the securities class action entitled "In re Royal Ahold N.V. Securities & ERISA Litigation." Under the terms of the agreement in the securities class action, the lead plaintiffs in the securities class action agree to settle all claims against Ahold in the securities class action for the sum of USD 1.1 billion (EUR 937 million). The settlement covers Ahold, its subsidiaries and affiliates, the individual defendants and the underwriters.

In a press release dated January 9, 2006, Dutch food retailer Ahold said Monday that a U.S. court has given the company preliminary approval to settle a securities class action lawsuit for $1.1 billion. Ahold has previously announced the terms of the settlement, under which it will pay between $1 and $1.30 a share to shareholders who purchased stock between July 30, 1999 and February 23, 2003. The lawsuit stems from Ahold's overstatement of three years of earnings.

In a press release dated November 27, 2005, Koninklijke Ahold N.V. announced today that it has reached an agreement with the lead plaintiffs to settle the securities class action entitled "In re Royal Ahold N.V. Securities & ERISA Litigation", which is pending before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, located in Baltimore, Maryland. Ahold also today announced that it has reached an agreement to settle litigation with the Vereniging van Effectenbezitters (VEB) (Dutch Shareholders' Association).

Under the terms of the agreement in the securities class action, the lead plaintiffs in the securities class action agree to settle all claims against Ahold in the securities class action for the sum of USD 1.1 billion (EUR 945 million). The settlement covers Ahold, its subsidiaries and affiliates, the individual defendants and the underwriters.

The settlement is worldwide and applies to all qualifying common shares of Ahold. The term "qualifying shares" refers to all those common shares which were purchased between July 30, 1999 and February 23, 2003. According to preliminary calculations made by Ahold, the settlement amount, after deduction of plaintiffs' attorneys' fees, compensation in the amount of USD 9 million (EUR 7.5 million) to (an entity designated by) the VEB for facilitating the global settlement and administrative expenses, would yield a pre-tax amount of approximately USD 1.00 to 1.30 per qualifying share (EUR 0.90 to 1.15). US and non-US holders of qualifying shares will be treated equally under the agreement.

Ahold will contribute to the settlement fund, from which the qualifying shares will be paid, in two instalments: two thirds of the settlement amount will be funded into escrow within three business days following preliminary court approval of the settlement by the District Court of the District of Maryland, which is expected as early as January 2006, and the remaining one third will be funded into escrow within six months following final court approval of the settlement.

The agreement will be subject to approval of the District Court of the District of Maryland.

If holders of more than 180 million shares opt out of the settlement (i.e. do not wish to be bound by the settlement), then Ahold will have the right to terminate the agreement and recover the funds paid, other than those amounts spent on notice of the settlement.

Under the terms of the agreement between the VEB and Ahold, the VEB has agreed to terminate the proceedings before the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals with respect to the annual financial statements of the Company for the years 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. In consideration of the withdrawal of such proceedings and as compensation of costs incurred, Ahold shall pay the VEB an amount of EUR 2.5 million.

According to an article in The Daily Telegraph dated January 8, 2004, a group of Dutch shareholders is taking Ahold court over last year's accounting scandal, which led to a 970m black hole in its accounts. Dutch shareholder association VEB has subpoenaed Ahold to appear before the Amsterdam Court of Appeals, demanding the company's annual accounts from 1998 to 2002 be nullified and restated. The retailer is under investigation by the Dutch authorities, the US Justice Department and the Securities & Exchange Commission, while two class action suits brought by US investors are pending.

Following a June 18, 2003 transfer from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, the securities class actions against Ahold were consolidated before the Honorable Catherine C. Blake in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland on November 4, 2003. Judge Blake also appointed Colorado PERA and Generic Trading of Philadelphia LLC as Lead Plaintiffs to prosecute the litigation on behalf of all members of the class. Also at this time, Entwistle & Cappucci LLP was appointed as Lead Counsel. On February 17, 2002, Lead Plaintiffs filed their Consolidated Amended Securities Class Action Complaint. The Court largely denied the defendants' motions to dismiss the Complaint in December 2004.

The original complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants materially misrepresented Ahold's financial results and performance for each of the quarters of and full year of fiscal 2001, ended December 30, 2001, and each of the first three quarters of fiscal 2002, by improperly recognizing income in Ahold's US Foodservice operations. On February 24, 2003, prior to the opening of the financial markets, Ahold announced that it would restate its results because "significant accounting irregularities were discovered in the recognition of income including prepayment amounts related to U.S. Foodservice's promotional allowance programs." The Company stated that the restatements may exceed $500 million of previously recognized income. On February 24, 2003, following the announcement of the restatement, Ahold's American Depositary Shares fell 61% or $6.53 from their February 21, 2003 closing price.

INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION:
SIC Code: 5411
Sector: Services
Industry: Retail (Grocery)

COMPANY/ISSUER NAME:	Koninklijke Ahold NV
COMPANY/ISSUER TICKER:	AHO
COMPANY WEBSITE:	http://www.ahold.com

FIRST IDENTIFIED COMPLAINT IN THE DATABASE

Kleinman, et al. v. Koninklijke (Royal) Ahold NV, et al.

COURT: S.D. New York	DOCKET NUMBER: 03-CV-1251
JUDGE NAME: Judge Buchwald
DATE FILED: 02/25/2003	SOURCE: Business Wires
CLASS PERIOD START: 03/06/2001	CLASS PERIOD END: 02/21/2003
TYPE OF COMPLAINT: Unamended/Unconsolidated
PLAINTIFF FIRMS IN THIS OR SIMILAR CASE:
Abbey Gardy, LLP 212 East 39th Street, New York, NY, 10016 (voice) 212.889.3700, (fax) , info@abbeygardy.com Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky 60 East 42 Street, New York, NY, 10021 (voice) 212.687.6655, (fax) , Berger & Montague PC 1622 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103 (voice) 800.424.6690, (fax) 215.875.4604, investorprotect@bm.net Cauley Geller Bowman Coates & Rudman, LLP (New York) 200 Broadhollow, Suite 406, Melville, NY, 11747 (voice) 631.367.7100, (fax) 631.367.1173, Chitwood & Harley LLP 1230 Peachtree Street, N.E., 2300 Promenade II, Atlanta, GA, 30309 (voice) 888.873.3999, (fax) 404.873.4476, Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll PLLC (Seattle WA) 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 6860, Seattle, WA, 98014 (voice) 206.521.0080, (fax) 206.521.0166, lawinfo@cmht.com Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran 1050 30th Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20007 (voice) 202.337.8000, (fax) 202.337.8090, contact@ftllaw.com Holzer & Holzer, LLC 1117 Perimeter Center West, Suite E-107, Atlanta, GA, 30338 (voice) (770) 392-0090, (fax) (770) 392-0029, mfistel@holzerlaw.com Lockridge, Grindal, Nauen P.L.L.P. Suite 301, 660 Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast, Washington, DC, 20003-4335 (voice) 202.544.9840, (fax) 202.544.9850, Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP (New York, NY) One Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY, 10119-1065 (voice) 212.594.5300, (fax) , Pomerantz Haudek Block Grossman & Gross LLP 100 Park Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, NY, 10017-5516ven (voice) 212.661.1100, (fax) 212.661.8665, info@pomerantzlaw.com/ Schoengold & Sporn PC 233 Broadway 39Th Floor, New York, NY, 10279 (voice) 212.964.0046, (fax) , Weiss & Yourman (New York, NY) The French Building, 551 Fifth Ave., Suite 1600, New York, NY, 10126 (voice) 212.682.3025, (fax) 212.682.3010, info@wyca.com Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10016 (voice) 212.545.4600, (fax) 212.686.0114, newyork@whafh.com _____________________________________________ TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAINTIFF FIRMS: 14

DOCUMENTS FOR THE FIRST IDENTIFIED COMPLAINT
Class Action Complaint
Type: Complaint		Date on the document: 02/25/2003
U.S. District Court Civil Docket
Type: Docket		Date on the document: 06/24/2003
Memorandum
Type: Memorandum		Date on the document: 11/04/2003
Securities Case Management Order No. 1 (Concerning The Appointment Of Lead Plaintiff And Counsel)
Type: Order		Date on the document: 11/04/2003

REFERENCE COMPLAINT

In Re: Royal Ahold NV Securities

COURT: D. Maryland	DOCKET NUMBER: 03-MD-1539
JUDGE NAME: Hon. Catherine C. Blake
DATE FILED: 02/18/2004	SOURCE: Business Wires
CLASS PERIOD START: 03/10/1998	CLASS PERIOD END: 02/24/2003
TYPE OF COMPLAINT: Consolidated and/or Amended
PLAINTIFF FIRMS NAMED IN COMPLAINT:
Cauley Geller Bowman Coates & Rudman, LLP (New York) 200 Broadhollow, Suite 406, Melville, NY, 11747 (voice) 631.367.7100, (fax) 631.367.1173, Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. (New York, NY) 825 Third Avenue - 30th Floor, New York, NY, 10022 (voice) 212.838.7797, (fax) 212.838.7745, lawinfo@cmht.com Entwistle & Cappucci LLP 299 Park Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY, 10171 (voice) 212.894.7200, (fax) 212.894.7272, info@entwistle-law.com Law Offices of Charles J. Piven, P.A. World Trade Center-Baltimore,401 East Pratt Suite 2525, Baltimore, MD, 21202 (voice) 410.332.0030, (fax) , pivenlaw@erols.com Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, PC , Chicago, IL, (voice) 800-470-6824, (fax) 312-621-1750, Schiffrin & Barroway LLP 3 Bala Plaza E, Bala Cynwyd, PA, 19004 (voice) 610.667.7706, (fax) 610.667.7056, info@sbclasslaw.com Shalov Stone & Bonner LLP 276 Fifth Avenue, Suite 704, New York, NY, 10001 (voice) 212.686.8004, (fax) 212.686.8005, lawyer@lawssb.com Wechsler Harwood LLP 488 Madison Avenue 8th Floor, New York, NY, 10022 (voice) 212.935.7400, (fax) , info@whhf.com Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10016 (voice) 212.545.4600, (fax) 212.686.0114, newyork@whafh.com Wolf Popper, LLP 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10022-6689Ave (voice) 877.370.7703, (fax) 212.486.2093, IRRep@wolfpopper.com Zwerling Schachter & Zwerling 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10022 (voice) 212-223-3900, (fax) 212-371-5969, inquiry@zsz.com _____________________________________________ TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAINTIFF FIRMS: 11

DOCUMENTS FOR THE REFERENCE COMPLAINT
Consolidated Amended Securities Class Action Complaint
Type: Complaint		Date on the document: 02/18/2004
Memorandum
Type: Memorandum		Date on the document: 05/24/2004
Memorandum
Type: Memorandum		Date on the document: 12/21/2004
Order
Type: Order		Date on the document: 12/21/2004
Lead Plaintiffs’ Memorandum Of Law In Support Of Motion For Class Certification, Appointment Of Class Representatives And Appointment Of Class Counsel
Type: Memorandum		Date on the document: 09/30/2005
Conference Transcript
Type: Other		Date on the document: 10/06/2005
Declaration Of Enrique Boerboom
Type: Declaration		Date on the document: 11/04/2005
Declaration Of Jeffrey Zelkowitz
Type: Declaration		Date on the document: 11/04/2005
Defendant James Miller's Memorandum Of Law In Opposition To Motion For Class Certification, Appointment Of Class Representatives And Appointment Of Class Counsel
Type: Memorandum		Date on the document: 11/04/2005
Defendants Mark P. Kaiser And Michael Resnick’s Response In Opposition Of Plaintiffs’ Motion For Class Certification, Appointment Of Class Representatives And Appointment Of Class Counsel
Type: Other		Date on the document: 11/04/2005
Joinder Of Individual Defendants Robert Tobin And William Grize In Royal Ahold, N.V. And U.S. Foodservice, Inc .'S Opposition To Plaintiffs ' Motion For Class Certification
Type: Other		Date on the document: 11/04/2005
Memorandum Of Law Of Cees Van Der Hoeven In Opposition To Lead Plaintiffs’ Motion For Class Certification
Type: Memorandum		Date on the document: 11/04/2005
Memorandum Of Law Of Defendant A. Michiel Meurs In Opposition To Lead Plaintiffs' Motion
Type: Memorandum		Date on the document: 11/04/2005
Memorandum Of Law Of Royal Ahold N.V. And U.S. Foodservice, Inc. In Opposition To Lead Plaintiffs’ Motion For Class Certification
Type: Memorandum		Date on the document: 11/04/2005
Opposition Of ABN AMRO Rothschild To Lead Plaintiffs’ Motion For Class Certification, Appointment Of Class Representatives And Appointment Of Class Counsel
Type: Other		Date on the document: 11/04/2005
Interim Sealing Motion Of Lead Plaintiffs, The Public Employees’ Retirement Association Of Colorado And Generic Trading Of Philadelphia, LLC, For An Order Permitting Filing Of Discovery Material Under Seal Pursuant To The Confidentiality Order
Type: Motion		Date on the document: 11/09/2005
Letter to The Honorable Catherine C. Blake
Type: Other		Date on the document: 11/09/2005
Letter to The Honorable Judge Catherine C. Blake
Type: Other		Date on the document: 11/10/2005
Letter To Counsel
Type: Other		Date on the document: 11/14/2005
Settlement Agreement
Type: Settlement		Date on the document: 11/27/2005
Declaration Of Glenn M. Kurtz
Type: Declaration		Date on the document: 12/04/2005
Amended Settlement Agreement
Type: Settlement		Date on the document: 01/06/2006
Notice [of Settlement]
Type: Notice		Date on the document: 01/06/2006
Plan Of Allocation Of Net Settlement Fund Among Class Members
Type: Other		Date on the document: 01/06/2006
Proof of Claim and Waiver of Release
Type: Other		Date on the document: 01/06/2006
Order Certifying Class For Purposes Of Settlement, Preliminarily Approving Settlement And Proposed Plan Of Allocation, Approving Form And Plan Of Notice, Approving The Notice Administrator And Claims Administrator, And Scheduling A Settlement Fairness Hearing
Type: Order		Date on the document: 01/09/2006
Final Judgment and Order of Dismissal
Type: Order		Date on the document: 06/16/2006
U.S. District Court Civil Docket
Type: Docket		Date on the document: 03/19/2007

OTHER DOCUMENTS

Case Name and/or Number:
Type:		Date on the document:

WARNING AND DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY:
The information included on this Web site, whether provided by personnel employed by Stanford Law School or by third parties, is provided for research and teaching purposes only. Neither Stanford University, Stanford Law School, nor any of their employees, agents, contractors, or affiliates warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information or analyses displayed herein, and we caution all readers that inclusion of any information on this site does not constitute an endorsement of the truthfulness or accuracy of that information. In particular, this Web site contains complaints and other documents filed in federal and state courts, which make allegations that may or may not be accurate. No reader should, on the basis of information contained in or referenced by this Web site, assume that any of these allegations are truthful.

Go to Search page | Go to Case Index page | Back to Top

�