Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is expanding an ongoing investigation
to determine whether Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (“Ocean Power” or
the “Company”) and certain of its officers and directors made false and
misleading statements and/or omissions in violation of Sections 10(b)
and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The investigation
originally involved purchases of Ocean Power through June 10, 2014. The
investigation has now grown to cover purchases of Ocean Power through
July 14, 2014 in light of further developments.
A class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the
District of New Jersey by another law firm on behalf of purchasers of
the common stock of Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTT)
between January 14, 2014 and July 14, 2014 including those who purchased
shares pursuant or traceable to the Company’s April 4, 2014 offering
(the “Class Period”).
The claims in this case arise from the Company’s recent announcement
that it had terminated its CEO for cause and had formed a special
committee to investigate an agreement between Victorian Wave Partners
Pty. Ltd (“Victorian Wave”) and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency
(“ARENA”), and related public statements concerning the project.
Victorian Wave is a project-specific operating entity wholly-owned by
the Company’s subsidiary Ocean Power (Australasia) Pty. Ltd. One of
Ocean Power’s principal projects, which is conducted through Victorian
Wave, is the development of an ocean wave-based power station off the
coast of Portland, Victoria, Australia (the “Australian Project”).
Subsequently, the Company announced that Victorian Wave was cancelling
its agreement with ARENA because it was no longer commercially viable.
The complaint alleges that Ocean Power and Charles Dunleavy, its former
CEO (“Defendants”), misrepresented and/or failed to disclose: the true
nature and circumstances of the agreement between Victorian Wave and
ARENA; that the renewable energy project off the Australian coast was
not commercial viable; and, as a result, Defendants’ statements
concerning the Australian Project, and positive statements about the
Company’s business, operations and prospects, were materially false and
misleading or lacked a reasonable basis for being made during the
relevant time period.
The Class Period ends on July 14, 2014, when the Company announced that
it was canceling its plans to build the renewable-energy project off the
Australian coast altogether. The Company also announced that it would
return AUD5.6 million it received from the government to support the
project. The Company’s stock price declined 23% in response.
The termination and Special Committee investigation came on the heels of
a report by TheStreetSweeper noting the Company’s misleading practice of
“regurgitat[ing] old, misleading news that pops [its] stock price,”
including purported “news” related to the agreement between Victorian
Wave and ARENA that made it appear as though new funding had been
obtained from ARENA.
Cohen Milstein encourages all investors who purchased Ocean Power common
stock between January 14, 2014 and July 14, 2014 including those who
purchased shares pursuant or traceable to the Company’s April 4, 2014
offering, or former employees with information concerning this matter to
contact the firm.
If you are an Ocean Power shareholder and would like to discuss your
right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without any cost or
obligation, call Cohen Milstein’s Managing Partner, Steven J. Toll at
(888) 240-0775 or (202) 408-4600, or email him at stoll@cohenmilstein.com.
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later
than August 12, 2014 to request that the Court appoint you as lead
plaintiff. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf
of other class members in directing the litigation. To be appointed lead
plaintiff, the Court must decide that your claim is typical of the
claims of other class members, and that you will adequately represent
the class. Your share in any recovery will not be enhanced or diminished
by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Any member
of the proposed class may retain Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC or
other attorneys to serve as your counsel in this action, or you may do
nothing and remain an absent class member.
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC has significant experience in
prosecuting investor class actions and actions involving securities
fraud. The firm has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago,
Philadelphia and Palm Beach Gardens, and is active in major litigation
pending in federal and state courts throughout the nation.
The firm has been repeatedly appointed by federal courts across the
country to lead positions in complex multi-district or consolidated
litigation. Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC has taken a lead role in
numerous important cases on behalf of defrauded investors, and has been
responsible for a number of outstanding recoveries which, in the
aggregate, total over one billion dollars. Prior results do not
guarantee a similar outcome. For more information visit www.cohenmilstein.com.
If you have any questions about this notice or the action, or with
regard to your rights, please contact either of the following:
Steven J. Toll, Esq.
Jordan Hill
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll
PLLC
1100 New York Avenue, N.W.
West Tower, Suite 500
Washington,
D.C. 20005
Telephone: (888) 240-0775 or (202) 408-4600
Email: stoll@cohenmilstein.com; jhill@cohenmilstein.com
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