The information contained on this website is only a
summary of information presented in more detail in the Notice of Pendency of
Class Action and Proposed Settlement (the “Notice”), which you can access by
clicking here.
Since this website is just a summary, you should review the Notice for
additional details.
Your Legal Rights Are Affected Whether You
Act or Do Not Act. Please Read the Notice Carefully.
IF YOU
PURCHASED SHARES OF HARMAN INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIES, INC. COMMON STOCK BETWEEN
APRIL 26, 2007 AND FEBRUARY 5, 2008, INCLUSIVE, YOU COULD RECEIVE A PAYMENT
FROM A PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT
IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES
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SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM
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Postmarked or
received on or before September 8, 2017
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EXCLUDE YOURSELF
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Received on or
before August 29, 2017
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OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT
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Received on or
before August 29, 2017, and filed
with the Court no later than August 29, 2017
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FINAL APPROVAL HEARING
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September 28, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.
United
States District Court for the District of Columbia, E. Barrett
Prettyman U.S. Courthouse
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DO NOTHING
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Receive no payment
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The Court’s Final Approval Hearing
The Final Approval Hearing will be held on September 28,
2017 at 10:00 a.m. before the Honorable Rudolph Contreras at the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia, E. Barrett Prettyman U.S.
Courthouse, 333 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Courtroom 14, Washington D.C. 20001,
to determine:
I. whether the proposed
settlement of the Action on the terms and conditions provided
for in the Settlement is fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class and should be approved by the Court;
II. whether a judgment should be entered, as proposed in the Settlement, which,
among other things, would dismiss the Action against Defendants with prejudice and release, on behalf of the Class, the Released Claims against the Released Parties (the “Judgment”);
III. whether, for purposes
of the Settlement, the Class should be finally certified; whether Lead Plaintiff should be
finally appointed as Class Representative for the Class; and whether
Lead Counsel should be finally
appointed as Class Counsel for the
Class;
IV. whether
the proposed Plan of Allocation is reasonable and should be approved by the
Court; and
V. whether
Lead Counsel’s request for an award of attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of
Litigation Expenses should be approved by the Court.
The
Court may change the date and time of the Final Approval Hearing without
another notice being sent to Class Members. Please check this website for any
updates to the date and time of the Final Approval Hearing.
What This Case is
About
The Complaint in this Action asserts, among
other things, that in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), Defendants misled investors by
misrepresenting or concealing the true nature of Harman’s personal navigation
device (“PND”) business. In particular,
the Complaint asserts that Defendants knowingly or recklessly represented to
investors that the Company’s PND business was strong and poised for growth when in reality the Company’s inventory of
PNDs was ballooning and Defendants were unable to meet their PND sales
targets. When the market learned the
truth about the Company’s PND business, the price of Harman’s common stock
declined and investors were allegedly harmed.
Lead Plaintiff filed a motion for class
certification on April 1, 2016 and the parties began active discovery. The discovery conducted in this Action was
extensive. Lead Plaintiff reviewed over
32,000 documents; produced over 600 documents on behalf of Lead Plaintiff;
issued four document subpoenas to non-parties; and prepared for and defended
the deposition of Lead Plaintiff, three of Lead Plaintiff’s investment
managers, and Lead Plaintiff’s market efficiency expert. Lead Plaintiff also deposed Defendants’
market efficiency expert in connection with class certification.
On September 16, 2016, Lead Plaintiff,
Defendants and certain of Defendants’ insurance carriers (the “D&O
Insurers”) participated in a full-day mediation session with the Honorable
Daniel Weinstein (Ret.) of Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services
(“JAMS”). Although a resolution was not
reached during the mediation session, the parties continued to engage in
arms-length negotiations through Judge Weinstein during the weeks that followed
the mediation. On November 17, 2016,
Judge Weinstein made a mediator’s proposal to settle the case for
$28,250,000. On November 18, 2016, Lead
Plaintiff, Defendants and the D&O Insurers accepted the mediator’s proposal
and agreed, subject to Court approval, to settle the Action.
Defendants have denied and continue to deny each and all
of the claims alleged by Lead Plaintiff in the Action and affirm that they
acted properly and lawfully at all times.
Defendants have expressly denied and continue to deny all charges of
wrongdoing or liability against them arising out of any and all of the conduct,
statements, acts or omissions alleged, or that could have been alleged, in the
Action. Defendants have, however, taken
into account the uncertainty and risks inherent in any litigation, especially
in a complex case such as this.
Defendants have concluded that further conduct of the Action would be
protracted and expensive, and that it is desirable that the Action be fully and
finally settled in the manner and upon the terms and conditions set forth in
the Settlement.
The Settlement Benefits
Subject to Court approval, Lead
Plaintiff, on behalf of itself and the Class, has agreed to settle all Released
Claims against Defendants and the Released Parties in exchange for a settlement
payment of $28,250,000 in cash (the “Settlement Amount”) to be deposited in an
interest-bearing escrow account (the “Settlement Fund”) and certain other
terms. The Settlement Fund less all
Taxes, Notice and Administration Costs, and attorneys’ fees and Litigation
Expenses that may be awarded by the Court to Lead Counsel and Lead Plaintiff
(the “Net Settlement Fund”) will be distributed to members of the Class in
accordance with the plan of allocation (the “Plan of Allocation”) that is
subject to approval by the Court. The
proposed Plan of Allocation is included in the Notice, and may be modified by
the Court without further notice.
Your share of the Net Settlement Fund will depend on the
number of shares that Authorized Claimants submit to the Claims Administrator,
relative to the Net Settlement Fund; how many shares you purchased and when you
purchased them; whether you held or sold those shares; the date on which you
sold those shares; and the price at which you sold them, among other
factors. At this time, it is not
possible to determine how much individual Class Members who are determined to
be Authorized Claimants may receive from the Settlement.
The Rights of Class Members
If you are a Class
Member, you have the following options:
Submit a Claim Form
If you are a Class Member, to be eligible to share in the
distribution of the Settlement proceeds, you must timely submit a valid Claim
Form, which can be found here, postmarked or submitted no later than September
8, 2017. If you are a Class
Member and do not submit a timely and valid Claim Form, you will not be
eligible to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, but you will
nevertheless be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in
connection with the Settlement.
Exclude
yourself from the Class
If you are a Class Member, but wish to exclude yourself from the
Class, you must submit a written request for exclusion in accordance with the
instructions set forth in the Notice, that is received no later than August
29, 2017. If you are a Class
Member and do not timely exclude yourself from the Class, you will be bound by
any judgments or orders entered by the Court in connection with the Settlement.
Object
to the Settlement
Any objections to the proposed Settlement, Judgment, Plan of
Allocation, or Lead Counsel’s application for award of attorneys’ fees and Litigation
Expenses must be mailed to the Court, Lead Counsel for the Class, and counsel
for Defendants in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice and received no later than August 29,
2017.
Go
to the Hearing
You may attend the hearing to speak in Court about
the fairness of the Settlement; the requested Judgment to approve the
Settlement; the proposed Plan of Allocation; or Lead Counsel’s request for
attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses. You cannot object to the Settlement unless
you are a member of the Class and do not validly exclude yourself.
Do
Nothing
Receive no payment, remain a Class Member, give up
your rights to seek recovery against the Defendants and other Released Parties
through other litigation and be bound by the Judgment entered by the Court if
it approves the Settlement, including the release of the Released Claims.
Further Information
For more details regarding this Settlement, please see
the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement, dated April 19, 2017, or other
documents filed in the case under the “Court Documents” link on the left. You may also contact the Claims Administrator
or Lead Counsel for further information regarding this Settlement:
Claims
Administrator:
Harman
International Industries Inc. Securities Settlement
c/o
A.B. Data, Ltd.
P.O.
Box 173035
Milwaukee,
WI 53217
877-265-3027
info@harmansecuritiessettlement.com
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Lead
Counsel:
COHEN MILSTEIN
SELLERS & TOLL PLLC
S. Douglas Bunch
1100 New York Ave
N.W.
Suite 500, East
Tower Washington, D.C. 20005
New York, NY 10005
202-408-4600
dbunch@cohenmilstein.com
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Please
read the Notice
carefully. If you have questions, you may call the Harman Securities Settlement
Help Line at 877-265-3027 or email info@harmansecuritiessettlement.com .