Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP Announces Proposed Settlements in Levy v. Gutierrez, et al., Case No. 1:14-cv-00443-JL (D.N.H.) (GTAT Securities Litigation)

NEW YORK, March 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP regarding Levy v. Gutierrez, et al., Case No. 1:14-cv-00443-JL (D.N.H.) (GTAT Securities Litigation)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

ADAM S. LEVY on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated,

Plaintiff,

v.

THOMAS GUTIERREZ, RICHARD J. GAYNOR, RAJA BAL, J. MICHAL CONAWAY, KATHLEEN A. COTE, ERNEST L. GODSHALK, MATTHEW E. MASSENGILL, MARY PETROVICH, ROBERT E. SWITZ, NOEL G. WATSON, THOMAS WROE, JR., MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC, GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO., CANACCORD GENUITY INC., AND APPLE, INC.,

Defendants.

No. 1:14-cv-00443-JL

ECF CASE

SUMMARY NOTICE OF (I) PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION AND CERTIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT CLASSES; (II) PROPOSED SETTLEMENTS WITH INDIVIDUAL DEFENDANTS AND UNDERWRITER DEFENDANTS; (III) MOTION FOR AN AWARD OF ATTORNEYS' FEES AND REIMBURSEMENT OF LITIGATION EXPENSES; AND (IV) SETTLEMENT FAIRNESS HEARING

TO: (a) All persons and entities who or which from November 5, 2013 through 9:40 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on October 6, 2014, inclusive (the "Class Period") purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded GT Advanced Technologies Inc. ("GTAT") common stock ("GTAT Common Stock") and/or publicly traded GTAT 3.00% Convertible Senior Notes Due 2020 ("GTAT Senior Notes"), purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded call options on GTAT common stock ("GTAT Call Options"), and/or sold (wrote) publicly traded put options on GTAT common stock ("GTAT Put Options"), and were damaged thereby (the "Individual Defendant Settlement Class"); and

(b) All persons and entities who or which, during the Class Period, purchased or otherwise acquired (i) GTAT Senior Notes pursuant or traceable to GTAT's December 2013 registration statement and prospectus supplement for the GTAT Senior Notes' offering and/or (ii) shares of GTAT Common Stock pursuant or traceable to GTAT's December 2013 registration statement and prospectus supplement for the secondary offering of GTAT common stock (the "Underwriter Defendant Settlement Class").

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PENDING IN THIS COURT.

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, that the above-captioned action (the "Action") has been certified as a class action for the purposes of settlement only on behalf of the Individual Defendant Settlement Class and the Underwriter Defendant Settlement Class, except for certain persons and entities who are excluded from those Settlement Classes by definition as set forth in the full printed Notice of (I) Pendency of Class Action and Certification of Settlement Classes; (II) Proposed Settlements with Individual Defendants and Underwriter Defendants; (III) Motion for an Award of Attorneys' Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses; and (IV) Settlement Fairness Hearing (the "Notice").

YOU ARE ALSO NOTIFIED that (i) the Court-appointed Lead Plaintiff Douglas Kurz ("Lead Plaintiff") and additional named plaintiffs Strategic Master Fund (Cayman) Limited ("Strategic Master Fund") and Highmark Limited, in respect of its Segregated Account Highmark Fixed Income 2 ("Highmark Limited"), on behalf of themselves and the Individual Defendant Settlement Class, have reached a proposed settlement of the Action with defendants Thomas Gutierrez, Richard Gaynor, Kanwardev Raja Singh Bal, Hoil Kim, Daniel W. Squiller, J. Michal Conaway, Kathleen A. Cote, Ernest L. Godshalk, Matthew E. Massengill, Mary Petrovich, Robert E. Switz, Noel G. Watson, and Thomas Wroe, Jr. (collectively, the "Individual Defendants") for $27,000,000 in cash (the "Individual Defendant Settlement"); and (ii) Lead Plaintiff and additional named plaintiffs Strategic Master Fund and Highmark Limited, on behalf of themselves and the Underwriter Defendant Settlement Class, have reached a proposed settlement of the Action with defendants Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Goldman, Sachs & Co. LLC (f/k/a Goldman, Sachs & Co.), and Canaccord Genuity Inc. (collectively, the "Underwriter Defendants") for $9,700,000 in cash (the "Underwriter Defendant Settlement" and, together with the Individual Defendant Settlement, the "Settlements").  These proposed Settlements will be considered independently by the Court and they do not resolve any of the claims asserted against the remaining defendant in the Action, Apple, Inc.

A hearing will be held on June 28, 2018 at 2:00 p.m., before the Honorable Joseph N. Laplante at the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, Courtroom 2, 55 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH 03301-3941, to determine: (i) whether the proposed Individual Defendant Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (ii) whether the proposed Underwriter Defendant Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (iii) whether the Action should be dismissed with prejudice as against the Individual Defendants and the Releases specified and described in the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement With Individual Defendants dated January 26, 2018 (and in the Notice) should be granted; (iv) whether the Action should be dismissed with prejudice as against the Underwriter Defendants and the Releases specified and described in the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement With Settling Underwriter Defendants dated August 18, 2017, together with the Supplement thereto dated January 26, 2018 (and in the Notice) should be granted; (v) whether the proposed Plan of Allocation for the proceeds of the Settlements is fair and reasonable and should be approved; and (vi) whether Lead Counsel's application for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses should be approved.

If you are a member of the Individual Defendant and/or the Underwriter Defendant Settlement Class, your rights will be affected by the proposed Settlement(s) that apply to you and any orders or judgments related to those Settlements, and you may be entitled to share in the Individual Defendant and/or Underwriter Defendant Settlement Funds.  If you have not yet received the Notice and Claim Form, you may obtain copies of these documents by contacting the Claims Administrator at GTAT Securities Litigation, c/o GCG, P.O. Box 10463, Dublin, OH 43017-4063, by toll-free phone at 1-866-562-8790, or by email at [email protected].  Copies of the Notice can also be downloaded from the website maintained by the Claims Administrator, www.GTATSecuritiesLitigation.com. 

If you are a member of one or both Settlement Classes, in order to be eligible to receive a payment under the proposed Settlement(s) that apply to you, you must submit a Claim Form postmarked no later than July 12, 2018.  If you are a Settlement Class Member and do not submit a proper Claim Form, you will not be eligible to share in the distribution of the net proceeds of the Settlement(s) but you will nevertheless be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action related to the Settlement(s) that apply to you.

If you are a member of one or both Settlement Classes and wish to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class(es) that apply to you, you must submit a written request for exclusion such that it is received no later than June 7, 2018, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice.  If you are a member of the Individual Defendant Settlement Class and properly exclude yourself from that class, you will not be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action relating to the Individual Defendant Settlement, and you will not be eligible to share in the proceeds of the Individual Defendant Settlement.  If you are a member of the Underwriter Defendant Settlement Class and properly exclude yourself from that class, you will not be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action relating to the Underwriter Defendant Settlement, and you will not be eligible to share in the proceeds of the Underwriter Defendant Settlement.

Any objections to the proposed Individual Defendant Settlement, the proposed Underwriter Defendant Settlement, the proposed Plan of Allocation, or Lead Counsel's motion for attorneys' fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses must be filed with the Court and delivered to Lead Counsel and, if the objection is to the Individual Defendant Settlement and/or the Underwriter Defendant Settlement, to designated counsel for those Settling Defendants such that they are received no later than June 7, 2018, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice.

Please do not contact the Court, GTAT, Defendants, or their counsel regarding this notice.  All questions about this notice, the proposed Settlements, or your eligibility to participate in the Settlements should be directed to the Claims Administrator or Lead Counsel.

Requests for the Notice and Claim Form should be made to:

GTAT Securities Litigation
c/o GCG
P.O. Box 10463
Dublin, OH 43017-4063
1-866-562-8790
[email protected]
www.GTATSecuritiesLitigation.com

Inquiries, other than requests for the Notice and Claim Form, should be made to Lead Counsel:

John C. Browne, Esq.
BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & GROSSMANN LLP
1251 Avenue of the Americas, 44th Floor
New York, NY 10020
1-800-380-8496
[email protected]

By Order of the Court

SOURCE Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP