NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (“Robbins Geller”) (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/a123/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of A123 Systems, Inc. (“A123” ) (NASDAQ:AONE) securities during the period between February 28, 2011 and October 16, 2012 (the “Class Period”).
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or David A. Rosenfeld of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/a123/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges certain officers and directors of the former A123, which filed for protection under the federal bankruptcy statutes in October 2012, with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. A123 designed, developed, manufactured, and sold advanced rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and battery systems. Its largest customer was Fisker Automotive, Inc. (“Fisker”), which, like A123, received hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) funding to design and mass produce plug-in electric vehicles.
The complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s financial performance and future prospects, including failing to disclose that: (i) by February 2011, Fisker was in default on production milestones in its DOE funding agreement, threatening Fisker’s DOE funding and ability to pay A123; (ii) by June 2011, the DOE had cut off disbursements to Fisker; (iii) by the fall of 2011, Fisker had run out of cash and was refusing to accepting batteries from A123; (iv) A123’s $20.5 million investment in Fisker’s preferred stock was materially impaired; (v) the carrying value of A123’s long-term grant receivable was overstated; (vi) the carrying value of accounts receivable due A123 from Fisker was overstated; and (vii) as a result, A123 was not on track to achieve the financial results the market had been led to expect during the Class Period.
As the market learned between November 2011 and October 16, 2012 that Fisker was rejecting prior orders for batteries, that A123 was downgrading earnings guidance and taking an impairment charge on its Fisker investment, that the Company’s forecast of incurring significant net losses and negative operating cash flows had raised substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and finally that A123 had filed for bankruptcy, the price of its stock declined from a Class Period high of $9.48 per share on February 28, 2011 to pennies per share.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of A123 securities during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.
Robbins Geller represents U.S. and international institutional investors in contingency-based securities and corporate litigation. With nearly 200 lawyers in nine offices, the firm represents hundreds of public and multi-employer pension funds with combined assets under management in excess of $2 trillion. The firm has obtained many of the largest recoveries and has been ranked number one in the number of shareholder class action recoveries in MSCI’s Top SCAS 50 every year since 2003. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.
