Connecticut Office of Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLC Files Securities Class Action on Behalf of Former Travelers Shareh
15 Septembre 2004 - 1:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Connecticut Office of Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLC
Files Securities Class Action on Behalf of Former Travelers
Shareholders HARTFORD, Conn., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Shepherd,
Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLC
(http://www.classactioncounsel.com/; e-mail: ), a law firm with
offices in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida,
announced today that it has filed a class action on behalf of all
Travelers Property Casualty Corp. ("Travelers") Class A or Class B
shareholders whose shares of Travelers were automatically exchanged
for shares of The St. Paul Travelers Companies, Inc. on or about
April 1, 2004 (NYSE: STA - News; "St. Paul Travelers") pursuant to
a merger between Travelers and The St. Paul Companies, Inc. ("St.
Paul")(the "Class"). The lawsuit was filed in the United States
District Court for the District of Minnesota and names the
following Defendants: Travelers, St. Paul, St. Paul Travelers and
its top executives, CEO Jay Fishman and CFO Jay Benet; St. Paul's
former CFO Thomas Bradley; and Travelers' former CEO, Robert Lipp.
A copy of the Complaint filed in this action can be obtained from
the Court or you can call our offices toll free at either
866/540-5505 or 877/891-9880 to speak with an attorney regarding
this matter and we will send you a copy of the Complaint. The
action arises out of the merger between Travelers and St. Paul
pursuant to which Travelers shareholders received shares of St.
Paul Travelers stock at a predetermined exchange ratio that was
approved based on representations contained in a joint Proxy
Statement and Registration Statement issued on February 13, 2004.
The Complaint alleges that both Travelers and St. Paul negligently
failed to disclose in that document that St. Paul utilized a
markedly different method for calculating insurance reserves than
that utilized by Travelers. Because the merged companies were
required to apply Travelers' reserve methodology, it was necessary
to increase reserves on St. Paul's insurance policies by over $1
billion -- approximately 12 percent of the value of St. Paul as
determined by the merger consideration. On June 17, 2004, news
regarding this issue began to trickle out to shareholders, and the
price of St. Paul Travelers stock began to decline, falling from
$41.10 on that date to $35.66 on July 23, 2004, the date the exact
size of the necessary reserve adjustment -- $1.6 billion -- was
first announced. Thus, in a matter of weeks, St. Paul Travelers
shares declined in market value by an astounding $3.66 billion.
Defendants St. Paul and St. Paul Travelers (its successor in
interest) are alleged to have violated Sections 11 of the
Securities Act of 1933, which provides for liability without fault
for any material misrepresentations in or omissions from the
Registration Statement that harmed shareholders. The Complaint also
asserts that Defendants, Fishman and Bradley, violated Section 11
by failing to conduct a reasonable investigation into the adequacy
of the disclosures in the Registration Statement concerning St.
Paul's reserves. All Defendants are charged with violations of
Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which prohibits
the solicitation of proxies for a shareholder vote by means of a
materially false or misleading proxy statement. If your Travelers
shares were exchanged for St. Paul Travelers shares pursuant to the
merger, you may qualify to serve as a Lead Plaintiff on behalf of
the Class. All motions for appointment as a Lead Plaintiff must be
filed with the Court no later than October 15, 2004. Any member of
the proposed class may move the Court to serve as Lead Plaintiff in
this action through counsel of his or her choice, or may remain an
absent class member. There are certain legal requirements to serve
as Lead Plaintiff, which we would be pleased to discuss with you.
If you would like to discuss this action or have any question
regarding this notice or your rights, please telephone or e-mail
James E. Miller, Esquire (866/540-5505; ), Patrick A. Klingman,
Esquire (866/540-5505; ) or James C. Shah, Esquire (877/891-9880;
). If you would like to discuss this action or have any question
regarding this notice or your rights, please contact us at the
telephone or electronic mail addresses provided above. Shepherd,
Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLC
(http://www.classactioncounsel.com/) is a national law firm that
represents investors, including institutions and individuals, as
well as consumers in class action and other complex litigation, and
maintains offices in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Florida. The firm's attorneys have appeared in matters on behalf of
our clients throughout the United States and been appointed lead
counsel in a number of class actions and corporate governance
matters. Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLC issues this
press release in compliance with the applicable federal securities
laws. DATASOURCE: Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLC
CONTACT: James E. Miller, Esquire of Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller
& Shah, LLC +1-866-540-5505,
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