According to the law firm press release, Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited ("Yingli" or the Company), together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and installs photovoltaic, or solar energy, products in the People’s Republic of China. The Company is purportedly the world’s largest producer of solar energy products by volume of products sold. The Complaint alleges that Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose to investors: (1) that the Company was inappropriately recognizing revenue; (2) that the Company had no reasonable prospects to collect on certain accounts receivable based on historical customer conduct; (3) that the Company was no longer able to borrow from commercial banks to fund its operations; (4) that the Company’s inability to raise additional capital or borrow funds from commercial banks threatened the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; and, (5) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ statements about Yingli’s business, operations, and prospects were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
On May 15, 2015, the Company filed its Annual Report with the SEC. Within its Annual Report, the Company disclosed there is “substantial doubt” that Yingli can remain solvent, stating, “[o]ur substantial indebtedness and net loss may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as our ability to meet our payment obligations.” On this news, shares of Yingli declined $0.21 per share, over 12%, to close on May 18, 2015, at $1.49 per share, on unusually heavy volume.
Plaintiffs filed a consolidated Complaint on November 20, 2015. A corrected version of this Complaint was re-filed on January 4, 2016.
On May 10, 2016, the Court issued an Order granting in part and denying in part Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiffs were given leave to amend their Complaint. Plaintiffs filed an amended Complaint on June 24.
On August 15, 2017, the Court issued an Order granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. Lead Plaintiffs filed a Notice appealing the District Court's Order of Dismissal. In October, the Ninth Circuit scheduled mediation conferences between the Settling Parties. On April 4, 2018, the Settling Parties reached an agreement in principle to settle the matter and executed a memorandum of understanding. The Settling Parties entered into a Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement on June 17. On August 29, the Court issued an Order preliminarily approving the Settlement. On December 20, the Court granted final approval of the Settlement and entered Final Judgment. On October 25, 2019, the Court issued an Order granting the unopposed motion for distribution of the Settlement funds.
