NEW YORK, July 15 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network — Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, on behalf of all persons who purchased or
otherwise acquired the common stock of Lazard, Ltd. (“Lazard” or the
“Company”) (NYSE: LAZ) pursuant and/or traceable to the Company’s false and
misleading Registration Statement/Prospectus, inclusive, (the “Class Period”)
together with those who purchased their shares in the open market between May
4, 2005 and May 12, 2005 inclusive (the “Class Period”) against defendants
Lazard and certain officers of the Company. The case name is Sved v. Lazard,
et al. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the
Court, or can be viewed on the Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP
website at http://www.whafh.com/cases/lazard.htm.
The complaint alleges that defendants violated the federal securities laws
by issuing materially false and misleading statements throughout the Class
Period that had the effect of artificially inflating the market price of the
Company’s securities. The complaint further alleges that defendants knew, that
the Company’s registration statement/prospectus was misleading when issued
because defendants failed to disclose the following material adverse facts:
(a) that to “create a market” and thereby manufacture an appearance that
Lazard’s IPO was fairly and properly priced, Goldman arranged to sell millions
of shares to hedge funds with side agreements that they could immediately
“flip the shares” and that Goldman would immediately buy them back; (b) that
Goldman entered into side agreements whereby several hedge funds agreed to
“theoretically” buy the shares in the IPO so that the IPO would be considered
“consummated” and Goldman could receive its underwriting fee, but again with
the understanding the hedge funds could immediately sell the shares back to
Goldman — without affecting their standing in future IPOs; (c) that a true
market for the IPO at a price of $27 per share did not exist. In fact, the
$25 price that was dictated by defendant Wasserstein did not exist. If the IPO
took place at any price below $27 per share, defendant Wasserstein would not
be able to fund the acquisition of David-Weill’s equity stake by only using
the proceeds of the IPO. At $25 per share an additional 3.5 millions shares
were sold to effectuate the IPO.
This scheme: (i) deceived the investing public regarding Lazard’s
business, operations, management and the intrinsic value of Lazard common
stock; (ii) enabled the defendants to raise $855 million in the Company’s IPO;
(iii) enabled the defendants to raise $1.1 billion in equity security units
issued by the Company; (iv) enabled defendant Wasserstein to acquire
David-Weill’s shares using the proceeds received in the IPO; and (v) caused
plaintiff and other members of the Class to purchase Lazard publicly traded
securities at artificially inflated prices.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired Lazard common stock during the
Class Period, you may request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff by
August 17, 2005. 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 plaintiff.” Your ability to
share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not
to serve as a lead plaintiff.
You may retain Wolf Haldenstein, or other counsel of your choice, to serve
as your counsel in this action. Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in
the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state
and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has
approximately 60 attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in Chicago,
New York City, San Diego, and West Palm Beach. The reputation and expertise of
this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly
recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in
complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation. If you wish to
discuss this action or have any questions, please contact Wolf Haldenstein
Adler Freeman & Herz LLP at 270 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, by
telephone at (800) 575-0735 (Fred Taylor Isquith, Esq., Gustavo Bruckner, Esq.
or Derek Behnke), via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com or visit our website at
http://www.whafh.com. All e-mail correspondence should make reference to
Lazard.
Web Site: http://www.whafh.com
