|  | | 2007 News and Press Releases | | |
SETTLEMENT NEWS:
Veeco Reaches $5.5M Settlement in Class Action
Christine Caulfield
Securities Law360. August 20, 2007
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EXCERPT: Shareholders of Veeco Instruments Inc. want a federal court to sign off on a $5.5 million class action settlement with the semiconductor maker, arguing their “sharply disputed” claims would, as it turns out, be hard to prove at trial. In a filing to the Manhattan district court Thursday, lead counsel Berger & Montague PC said an agreement had been reached to resolve the case, which accused Veeco and its top executives of a scheme to inflate the stock price by falsely recording revenues and hiding expenses. In its unopposed motion for preliminary court approval of the settlement, counsel for the lead plaintiff Steelworkers Pension Trust said the settlement, when weighed against the constraints of proving the shareholder's theory of damages, was the best outcome for the class. “In short, the parties' counsel—who litigated this case to the eve of trial, and knew every single fact and all of the strengths and weaknesses of their respective cases—have concluded that the proposed settlement of $5.5 million is in the best interest of their respective clients,” the motion stated. Berger & Montague told the court it would be applying for a 30% cut of the settlement. The pension fund filed a consolidated amended complaint on behalf of thousands of shareholders in the Manhattan district court in November 2005, alleging the price of Veeco stock was artificially inflated by misleading financial statements that falsely recorded an extra, unearned $10 million in profits. |
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