NEW YORK, Oct. 22 2004 LAWFUEL – Law, legal, attorney, class action, litigation newsAbbey Gardy, LLP commenced a Class
Action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of
Connecticut on behalf of a class (the “Class”) of all persons who purchased or
acquired securities of Star Gas Partners, L.P. (“Star Gas” or the “Company”)
(NYSE: SGH; NYSE: SGU) between December 4, 2003 and October 18, 2004 inclusive
(the “Class Period”).
The Complaint alleges that defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.
The Complaint names as defendants Star Gas Partners, L.P., Irik P. Sevin and
Ami A. Trauber. The Complaint alleges that Defendants issued a series of
material misrepresentations to the market during the Class Period thereby
artificially inflating the price of Star Gas securities. As a result of this
inflation, Star Gas was able to complete a secondary public offering of 1.3
million common units and two note offerings totaling $65 million, raising net
proceeds of $95 million during the Class Period. More specifically, the
complaint alleges that the Partnership failed to disclose and misrepresented
the following material adverse: (1) that the Partnership was unable to pass
costs of rising heating oil prices on to its customers because the Partnership
had earlier acquired heating oil at a much lower cost; (2) that as a result of
this, defendants were unable to increase or maintain profit margins in its
heating oil segment; (3) that the Partnership was experiencing massive
customer attrition; and (4) that the Partnership’s Petro heating oil
division’s operational restructuring, undertaken at the beginning of the Class
Period, was a complete and utter failure because of delays in the
centralization of Star’s dispatch system.
On October 18, 2004, TheStreet.com
issued an article, entitled “Stocks In Motion: Star Gas,” which stated:
“Earnings at Star Gas’ heating oil unit are expected to decline substantially,
the company said, which will not permit it to meet the borrowing conditions
under its working capital line. Star is currently in talks with lenders to
modify conditions and other terms that would allow its business unit to
operate through the winter. If lenders do not agree, however, to offer
modified terms, Star said it could be forced to seek alternative financing on
‘extremely disadvantageous’ terms or even be forced to seek bankruptcy
protection.” On this news, Star Gas’s stock dropped to $4.32 per share from a
closing price of $21.60 on the previous trading day.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all those who purchased or
otherwise acquired Star Gas securities during the Class Period. If you
purchased or otherwise acquired Star Gas securities during the Class Period,
and either lost money on the transaction or still hold the securities, you may
wish to join in the action to serve as lead plaintiff. If you purchased Star
Gas securities during the Class Period, you may, no later than December 20,
2004 request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff.
A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other
class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead
plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member’s claim is typical
of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will
adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class
members may together serve as “lead plaintiffs.” Your ability to share in
any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve
as a lead plaintiff.
Abbey Gardy, LLP has been retained as one of the law firms to represent
the Class. The attorneys at Abbey Gardy, LLP have extensive experience in
securities class action cases, and have played lead roles in major cases
resulting in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars to investors. If
you would like to discuss this action or if you have any questions concerning
this Notice or your rights as a potential class member or lead plaintiff, you
may contact:
Web Site: http://www.abbeygardy.com
