Dow Jones Online News, 12/21/2000 13:17
PHILADELPHIA -(Dow Jones)- A federal court in Virginia dismissed 14 of 15 securities fraud lawsuits against PSINet Inc. (PSIX).
The court denied PSINet's motion to dismiss certain claims in the 15th complaint filed on behalf of former Metamor Worldwide Inc. shareholders who acquired PSINet stock through PSINet's stock-swap merger with Metamor in June.
As reported, in November PSINet filed motions to dismiss the 15 purported class-action complaints alleging securities violations.
A spokesman for PSINet said the court dismissed 14 of the 15 cases and "almost all" of the 15th complaint.
In a press release Thursday, Berger & Montague P.C., the law firm representing plaintiffs, said the complaint alleges that PSINet issued materially false and misleading statements in the registration statement and prospectus filed in connection with the Metamor merger.
According to the law firm, the misrepresentations concerned the question of whether the businesses of Metamor and its Xpedior Inc. unit were complementary to PSINet.
PSINet officials said the court did not sustain the claims in the suits and threatened sanctions against the plaintiffs if they filed similar suits.
The judge set a new deadline in January for the plaintiffs to file amended complaints, PSINet said, at which point PSINet expects to file a motion to dismiss them.
PSINet shares recently traded at 78 cents, down 13 cents or 13.8%, on Nasdaq volume of 4.7 million shares. Average daily volume is 9.3 million shares.
-Dorothea Degen; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5400
(This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires)
Copyright (c) 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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BTW, this article was entitled Court Denies PSINet's Motion To Dismiss Holders Suit. I find it strange that although the judge dismissed 14 of the 15 cases, and allowed only some aspects of the 15th, the article's headline proclaims only the failure to dismiss. |
