The law firm of Finkelstein,
Thompson & Loughran announces that a lawsuit seeking
class action status
has been filed in the United States District Court for Southern District of
New York against Sea Containers Ltd. and certain of its officers and directors on behalf of
purchasers of Sea Containers securities between March 15, 2004 and March
24, 2006, inclusive, Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran
is investigating similar claims at this time and welcomes inquiries from
potential class members concerning their rights and interests in this
matter.
The lawsuit alleges that Sea Containers violated federal securities
laws by issuing a series of false or misleading public statements regarding
the sale and restructuring of its ferry division and related impairment
charges. On November 3, 2005, the Company announced that it would entertain
offers for its Silja Oy Ab ferry division as its
SeaStreak business, which
would result in an impairment charge of $99 million related to the future
sales. It additionally announced a $32 million impairment charge based on
newly identified assets had been identified as impaired. On March 24, 2006,
the Company shocked the market by announcing that: (1) it would be take a
$500 million impairment charge as the result of: the sale of its entire
ferry business, rather than the previous announced sale of the Silja Oy Ab
division, and classification of additional containers as impaired; (2) as a
result of the $500 million impairment charge it would be in violation of
net worth convenants contained in its borrowing agreements; (3) that it
would restate its financial statements for the first three quarters of
2005; and (4) investors should no longer rely on their previously issued
financial results for the first three quarters of 2005.
The market reacted sharply to this news with Sea Containers' share
price dropping from a close of $12.06 on March 23, 2006 to a close of $7.45
on March 24, 2006, constituting a drop of nearly 38% in a single day.