Ontario Class Action Suit Filed Against Royal Group and Notice of Possible Derivative Action Received
March 30 2006 - 7:29PM
PR Newswire (US)
TORONTO, March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Group
Technologies Limited (RYG - TSX; NYSE) today announced that the
Board of Directors has received a demand letter from a California
law firm, on behalf of a shareholder of the Company, asking that
that the Company commence a lawsuit against Vic De Zen, Douglas
Dunsmuir, Ronald Goegan and Gary Brown, former officers of the
Company, for breach of fiduciary duties arising from alleged
mismanagement and self-dealing. The demand letter further asks that
lawsuits be commenced against all former and current senior
officers and directors of the Company since January 1998 for not
seeking reimbursement from the above individuals. The demand letter
puts the Company on notice that if the Board of Directors does not
comply with the request, a court application will be filed for
leave to bring a derivative action in the name of, and on behalf
of, the Company under the Canada Business Corporations Act. The
Company's Audit Committee will review the request made in the
demand letter and will make a recommendation to the Board of
Directors. As set out in the Company's March 24, 2005 press release
and its April 22, 2005 Management Circular, Mr. De Zen agreed that
the full amount of the gain earned by all parties, including
himself, on the Vaughan West Lands transaction ($6.5 million) plus
interest ($2.2 million) would be paid to Royal Group. Mr. De Zen
agreed to make this payment himself. This payment obligation was
satisfied upon the conversion of his multiple voting shares on a
one-for-one basis (i.e., without a premium), which occurred on June
22, 2005. Mr. De Zen has further repaid to the Company
approximately $1.13 million with respect to bonuses received for
fiscal 2002. A component of the overall agreement reached with Mr.
De Zen included the Company releasing Mr. De Zen from any potential
claims the Company may have that it was currently aware of. As has
been reported in the news, a putative class action shareholder
lawsuit alleging oppression and negligent misrepresentation against
the Company and eight former and current officers and directors of
the Company has been filed in Ontario by the Canadian Commercial
Workers Industry Pension Plan ("CCWIPP"). The suit seeks damages of
$700 million and punitive damages of $300 million. CCWIPP had
previously attempted to bring a class action lawsuit in the U.S.
against the Company which was dismissed without prejudice on the
basis that the lawsuit should be brought before a Canadian court.
The proposed class in the Ontario lawsuit would include all persons
who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of the Company from
February 26, 1998 to October 18, 2004. Royal Group has not been
served yet with a copy of the suit. The Company understands that
the suit alleges, among other things, that the Company failed to
disclose certain related-party transactions. As the Company has
previously stated, it will not provide further public comment on
such suits filed against the Company, but will deal with them
through the appropriate legal process. Royal Group Technologies is
a leading producer of innovative, attractive, durable and
low-maintenance home improvement and building products, which are
primarily utilized in both the renovation and new construction
sectors of the North American construction industry. Royal Group is
the recipient of several industry awards for product innovation.
The company has manufacturing operations located throughout North
America in order to provide industry-leading service to its
extensive customer network. 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 Audit Committee of the
Board of Directors and its outcome; the negative impact that may be
caused by the delay in filing of Royal Group's 2005 financial
statements, including, without limitation, a breach by Royal Group
of its banking agreement, an adverse effect on Royal Group's
business and the market price of its publicly traded securities,
and a breach by Royal Group of the continued listing requirements
of the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange;
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 December 31, 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 March 30, 2006 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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