LOS ANGELES, Sept. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP (“GPM”) reminds investors of the upcoming September 30, 2019 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of Venator Materials PLC (“Venator” or the “Company”) (NYSE: VNTR) Investors that purchased ordinary shares: (a) between August 2, 2017 and October 29, 2018, inclusive; (b) in or traceable to the Company’s initial public offering conducted on or around August 3, 2017; and (c) in or traceable to the Company’s secondary public offering conducted on or around December 4, 2017.
If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.
If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com.
On January 30, 2017, a fire damaged the Company’s titanium dioxide manufacturing plant in Pori, Finland. Before the fire, the Pori facility produced up to 17% of the Company’s total titanium dioxide capacity.
In August 2017, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) and sold more than 26 million shares at $20 per share. Then, in December 2017, the Company completed a secondary public offering and sold 23.7 million shares at $22.50 per share.
On July 31, 2018, the Company announced that costs to repair the facility would be more than $375 million above insurance policy limits, over double the amount previously disclosed to investors.
On this news, shares of Venator fell $0.73 per share, or nearly 5%, to close at $14.62 per share on July 31, 2018, thereby injuring investors.
Then, on September 12, 2018, the Company announced it would discontinue use of the Pori facility despite previous reports that the facility could be restored to full operating capacity. Moreover, the damaged facility had only been operating at 20% capacity and had not meaningfully increased production since the IPO.
On this news, shares of Venator fell $0.54 per share, or nearly 5%, to close at $10.81 per share on September 12, 2018, thereby further injuring investors.
Then on October 30, 2018, the Company relayed that, in addition to the nearly $500 million in costs and lost business as a result of the fire, it incurred an additional $415 million in restructuring expenses and would incur future charges of $220 million through the end of 2024 related to the Pori facility.
On this news, shares of Venator fell $1.53 per share, or over 19%, to close at $6.47 per share on October 30, 2018, thereby further injuring investors.
The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that the fire damage at the Pori facility was far more extensive than disclosed to investors, rendering the facility beyond repair; (2) that the true cost of the Pori facility fire exceeded $1 billion, hundreds of millions of dollars beyond the limits of the Company’s insurance policy; (3) that the Company was paying rebuilding premiums, and thereby incurring tens of millions of dollars in additional costs, in a futile attempt to expedite the rehabilitation process; (4) that Venator had lost, essentially without prospect of rehabilitation, 80% of the production capacity of the Pori facility, and thus lost a substantial portion of one of its largest revenue producing assets; (5) the Company’s reported annual Titanium Dioxide production capacity had been inflated by approximately 104,000 metric tons, or 15%; and (6) that as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ public statements were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
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If you purchased or otherwise acquired shares of Venator during the Class Period you may move the Court no later than September 30, 2019 to request appointment as lead plaintiff in this putative class action lawsuit. To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased.
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Contacts
Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP, Los Angeles
Lesley Portnoy, 310-201-9150 or 888-773-9224
shareholders@glancylaw.com
www.glancylaw.com
