US Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Royal Group Technologies
23 November 2005 - 9:18AM
PR Newswire (US)
TORONTO, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Group Technologies
Limited (RYG-TSX, RYG-NYSE) announced that the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an
Opinion and Order yesterday granting the motions of Royal Group and
certain of its former directors, officers and employees to dismiss
a consolidated shareholder lawsuit that sought class action status.
The lawsuit had alleged, among other things, that the defendants
failed to disclose certain related-party transactions in violation
of U.S. securities laws. The lawsuit was dismissed without
prejudice on the grounds that Canadian courts would provide a more
convenient and appropriate forum. The District Court's ruling is
subject to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals, and the
Company has no assurance that it will not be the subject of further
shareholder lawsuits based on similar allegations in Canadian and
U.S. courts. Royal Group Technologies is a manufacturer of
innovative, polymer-based home improvement, consumer, and
construction products. The company has extensive vertical
integration, with operations dedicated to provision of materials,
machinery, tooling, real estate, and transportation services to its
plants producing finished products. Royal Group's manufacturing
facilities are primarily located throughout North America, with
international operations in South America, Europe, and Asia.
Additional investment information is available on Royal Group's web
site at http://www.royalgrouptech.com/ under the "Investor
Relations" section. The information in this document contains
certain forward-looking statements with respect to Royal Group
Technologies Limited, its subsidiaries and affiliates. These
statements are often, but not always made through the use of words
or phrases such as "expect", "should continue", "continue",
"believe", "anticipate", "suggest", "estimate", "contemplate",
"target", "plan", "budget", "may", "will", "schedule" and "intend"
or similar formulations. By their nature, these forward-looking
statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and
assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are
inherently subject to significant, known and unknown, business,
economic, competitive and other risks, uncertainties and other
factors affecting Royal specifically or its industry generally that
could cause actual performance, achievements and financial results
to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking
statements. These risks and uncertainties include the ongoing
shareholder value maximization process and its outcome; the ongoing
internal review and investigations by the Special Committee of the
Board of Directors and its outcome; the outcome of the ongoing
assessment and review of the Royal Building System's compliance
with the smoke generated elements of the US building code and the
safety of buildings constructed with the Royal Building System;
fluctuations in the level of renovation, remodelling and
construction activity; changes in product costs and pricing; an
inability to achieve or delays in achieving savings related to the
cost reductions or increases in revenues related to sales price
increases; the sufficiency of our restructuring activities,
including the potential for higher actual costs to be incurred in
connection with restructuring activities compared to the estimated
costs of such actions; the ability to recruit and retain qualified
employees; the level of outstanding debt and our current debt
ratings; Royal's ability to maintain adequate liquidity and
refinance its debt structure by April 30, 2006, the expiry date of
its current bank credit facility; the ability to meet the financial
covenants in our credit facilities; changes in product mix; the
growth rate of the markets into which Royal's products are sold;
market acceptance and demand for Royal's products; changes in
availability or prices for raw materials; pricing pressures
resulting from competition; difficulty in developing and
introducing new products; failure to penetrate new markets
effectively; the effect on foreign operations of currency
fluctuations, tariffs, nationalization, exchange controls,
limitations on foreign investment in local business and other
political, economic and regulatory risks; difficulty in preserving
proprietary technology; adverse resolution of any litigation,
investigations, administrative and regulatory matters, intellectual
property disputes, or similar matters; changes in securities or
environmental laws, rules and regulations; currency risk exposure
and other risks described from time to time in publicly filed
disclosure documents and securities commission reports of Royal
Group Technologies Limited and its subsidiaries and affiliates. In
view of these uncertainties we caution readers not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements. Statements made in
this document are made as of November 22, 2005 and Royal disclaims
any intention or obligation to update or revise any statements made
herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise. DATASOURCE: Royal Group Technologies Limited CONTACT:
Mark Badger, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate
Communications, Royal Group Technologies Limited, Phone (905)
264-0701
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