|  | | 2005 News and Press Releases | | |
SETTLEMENT NEWS:
PSS World Medical Announces Agreement To Settle Class Action Litigation
Staff Writer
Business Wire. September 12, 2005
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EXCERPT: PSS World Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ/NM:PSSI) announced today that the Company, its subsidiary Gulf South Medical Supply, Inc. ("Gulf South"), and certain current and former officers and directors have reached an agreement in principle with the Plaintiff and the certified class of persons who held Company stock on March 26, 1998, to settle all claims in the shareholder securities class action litigation styled Jack Hirsch v. PSS World Medical, Inc., et. al., Case No. 3:98-CV-502-J-32TEM, pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division. This litigation was originally filed in May 1998 and arose out of the Company's 1998 acquisition of Gulf South and the subsequent restatements of its financial results for previous years. The Company will establish a pre-tax reserve of $16.5 million to settle the litigation, of which $13.2 million will be recovered through existing insurance policies. The Company had previously established a $2.6 million pre-tax reserve to cover potential uninsured losses relating to this matter. David A. Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are pleased to close this old chapter of the Company's history and continue the implementation of our business plans. The settlement of this litigation has little impact on our current or future operations, yet it relieves a distraction to our leadership. Our Board of Directors and management chose to settle this legacy matter from 1998, cleaning the Company's slate of pending litigation matters relating to the 1998 acquisition of Gulf South and enabling our team to focus on the execution of our three-year strategic plan." The settlement is the outcome of an extensive mediation process and represents a compromise between the parties involved. Under the settlement agreement, the parties to the litigation deny any violations of law and have agreed to the settlement to eliminate uncertainties, burden and expense of further protracted litigation. |
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