BEIJING, July 20 -- Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co. Ltd. ("Fuwei" or "the Company"), a manufacturer and distributor of high-quality BOPET plastic films in China, today announced that the Company has received a Memorandum and Order (the "Order") from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding the shareholder class action suit.
On March 14, 2008, a Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint (the "Complaint") was filed against Fuwei, certain of its present and former officers, directors, and shareholders, and the underwriters for Fuwei's December 19, 2006 initial public offering (collectively, the "defendants"), alleging that the Registration Statement and Prospectus contained materially false and misleading information in violation of federal securities laws. The defendants filed motions to dismiss the Complaint on May 14, 2008.
At this preliminary stage of the litigation, the Court is required to assume that the facts alleged by the plaintiffs are true and must draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs' favor. Applying that standard, the Court granted the defendants' motions in part and denied them in part. The Court dismissed plaintiffs' claims to the extent they were based upon Fuwei's alleged failure to disclose the DMT arbitration proceeding. The Court also dismissed certain of plaintiffs' claims to the extent they were brought on behalf of shareholders who did not purchase their shares directly in the IPO.
The Court sustained plaintiffs' remaining claims. However, the Court noted that the defendants may be able to assert affirmative defenses provided by the federal securities laws in a motion for summary judgment, which could resolve the case before trial.
Now that the motions to dismiss have been ruled upon, the defendants must submit responsive pleadings to the Complaint and discovery will proceed.
About Fuwei Films
Fuwei Films conducts its business through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fuwei Shandong. Fuwei Shandong develops, manufactures and distributes high-quality plastic films using the biaxial oriented stretch technique, otherwise known as BOPET film (biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate). Fuwei's BOPET film is widely used to package food, medicine, cosmetics, tobacco, and alcohol, as well as in the imaging, electronics, and magnetic products industries.
Source: Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co. Ltd.
