Shareholders Seek OK For $20M Deal In ProQuest Suit

Shareholders Seek OK For $20M Deal In ProQuest Suit - 3/20/2009

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2009 News and Press Releases

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News	News 2009
HEADLINES \| SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS \| COURT FILINGS LINKS TO OTHER NEWS \| NEWS ARCHIVE	HEADLINES ARCHIVED SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS ARCHIVED

SETTLEMENT NEWS:

Shareholders Seek OK For $20M Deal In ProQuest Suit
Jocelyn Allison

Securities Law 360. March 20, 2009
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EXCERPT: Plaintiffs in a proposed shareholder class action against Voyager Learning Co., formerly known as ProQuest Co., are seeking court approval for a $20 million settlement resolving claims stemming from an accounting fraud scandal from 2001 to 2006. In a motion filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, shareholders said the settlement provided a good recovery for the proposed class considering the risks of pursuing the litigation further. “This settlement comes after nearly three years of litigation and extensive settlement negotiations between lead plaintiffs and defendants, including a formal mediation presided over by a retired federal judge,” the plaintiffs said. “But for the settlement, plaintiffs' counsel were prepared to continue prosecuting the action against defendants,” they continued. “Thus, the circumstances of the parties' negotiations leave no question that the settlement resulted from hard-fought, arm's-length negotiations by well-informed counsel.” The settlement will resolve claims brought against ProQuest and four company executives before the publishing company sold part of its business and changed its name to Voyager Learning in June 2007. The proposed shareholder class actions, which were consolidated in the Eastern District of Michigan, claimed the company and certain executives failed to provide adequate controls for accurate accounting and falsely reported the extent of accounting errors. The publisher of education, automotive and power equipment information experienced a stock nosedive following news of its earnings restatements on Feb. 9, 2006, when the stock fell by 18 percent. The suit named as defendants ProQuest Chairman Alan W. Aldworth, former chairman and board member James P. Roemer, former Chief Financial Officer Kevin C. Gregory, and Scott Hirth, a former financial vice president who took the blame from the company for the accounting problems. Hirth reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in July.

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