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COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS LLP FILES CLASS
ACTION SUIT AGAINST CBS CORPORATION
New York – December 12, 2008 – Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (“Coughlin Stoia”) (http://www.csgrr.com/cases/cbs/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of CBS Corporation (“CBS” or the “Company”) (NYSE:CBS) common stock during the period between February 26, 2008 and October 10, 2008 (the “Class Period”).
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or David A. Rosenfeld of Coughlin Stoia at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@csgrr.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.csgrr.com/cases/cbs/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges CBS and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. CBS operates as a mass media company in the United States and internationally. It operates in four segments: Television, Radio, Outdoor, and Publishing.
The complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements about the Company’s financial condition and operating results. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose: (i) that adverse market conditions had materially impaired CBS’s operations, expected cash flows and the value of its intangible assets, including goodwill; (ii) that the Company’s reported goodwill and intangible assets, which ranged between 69% - 73% of CBS’s total assets and 131% - 137% of CBS’s total equity during the Class Period, were materially overstated; (iii) that the Company reported equity capital during the Class Period that was materially overstated; (iv) that, as a result of its failure to timely write-down impaired intangible and goodwill assets, the Company’s financial results during the Class Period were materially overstated; (v) that the Company’s financial statements were not prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) and, therefore, were materially false and misleading; (vi) that the Company’s balance sheet was not “pristine,” “extremely strong” or “extremely healthy;” (vii) that the Company’s cash flow from operations was declining at a significant rate; and (x) that Defendants’ positive statements concerning the Company’s free cash flow, including Defendant Moonves’s representation that CBS “clearly has the right broad range of assets to produce outstanding free cash flow quarter after quarter, year after year,” were materially false and misleading and without reasonable basis.
According to the complaint, on October 10, 2008, CBS issued a press release announcing that it “expects to incur a non-cash impairment charge of approximately $14 Billion, in the third quarter of 2008.” In response to this announcement, the price of CBS common stock declined from $10.14 to $8.10, on very heavy trading volume.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of CBS common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Coughlin Stoia, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.
Coughlin Stoia, a 190-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Atlanta, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. The Coughlin Stoia Web site (http://www.csgrr.com) has more information about the firm.
Contact:
Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP
Samuel H. Rudman, 800-449-4900
David A. Rosenfeld
djr@csgrr.com
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