Subject: LAW

Québec Court of Appeal Greenlights Securities Class Action on behalf of Valeant Pharmaceuticals Investors

MONTRÉAL, Dec. 4, 2017 /CNW/ - A class action on behalf of investors in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. ("Valeant") (TSX and NYSE: "VRX") will proceed toward trial now that Québec's Court of Appeal has dismissed applications by the defendants to commence an appeal from the judgment of the Honourable Justice Chantal Chatelain of the Québec Superior Court, dated August 29, 2017, which authorized the securities class action.

A notice detailing the impact of the authorization of the action as a class proceeding on the rights of investors will be delivered at a later date in accordance with a further order of the Court.

The class action was brought on behalf of persons who acquired the securities of Valeant outside of the U.S. between February 28, 2013 and October 26, 2015 after allegations arose that Valeant engaged in improper business and financial reporting practices, particularly within its relationships with Philidor Rx Services.  Following an internal investigation of its board of directors, Valeant identified material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting, and restated certain of its previously-released financial statements.

The defendants include Valeant, certain of Valeant's former directors and officers, Valeant's auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and a group of underwriters including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank Securities, Barclays Capital, HSBC Securities, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets, Citigroup Global Markets, CIBC World Markets, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Securities, TD Securities, BMO Capital Markets, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, DNB Markets, SunTrust Robinson and SMBC Nikko Securities.

"We are very pleased that this case has passed this initial hurdle and will now be able to move ahead to a determination on its merits," said Michael Robb, a partner at Siskinds LLP.  "It is of paramount importance to investors that participants in Canada's capital markets abide by their disclosure obligations to investors. One of the ways to ensure that happens is by holding them to account in the courts."    

The plaintiffs and investor class are represented by a consortium of Canadian law firms which includes Siskinds LLP, Faguy & Co, Siskinds Desmeules, Koskie Minsky LLP, Rochon Genova LLP, Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP, Morganti Legal, and Investigation Counsel PC.

 

SOURCE Siskinds LLP

News published on 4 december 2017 at 16:13 and distributed by: