HOMESTORE READY TO MOVE ON $93 MILLION LAWSUIT SETTLED.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer WESTLAKE VILLAGE - Putting to rest nearly four years of legal wrangling, Homestore Inc. on Monday finalized See finalization. a settlement for a $93 million class-action lawsuit filed against the company. The online real-estate company rode the dot-com wave in the late 1990s, watching its shares rise as high as $120, but came down hard in 2001. Tanking stock prices combined with mass layoffs, executive resignations and a lawsuit alleging that Homestore misstated its earnings in 2000 and 2001, putting the company in a far less lofty position. Top executives resigned, several pleaded guilty to securities fraud and the company said in February 2002 that it overstated o·ver·state tr.v. o·ver·stat·ed, o·ver·stat·ing, o·ver·states To state in exaggerated terms. See Synonyms at exaggerate. o revenue the previous year by $113 million. The finalization Writing the table of contents (TOC) on a recordable CD or DVD disc. The finalization process ensures that the disc can be played back on most CD and DVD players. See disc-at-once. came as a relief for Homestore, whose stock closed at a much more modest $2.36 on Monday. It will report its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings Wednesday, the first in more than four years without the specter of lawsuits and investigations hanging over its financial news. ``It's exciting to finally have it behind us,'' said Erin Campbell, Homestore's director of corporate communications Corporate communications is the process of facilitating information and knowledge exchanges with internal and key external groups and individuals that have a direct relationship with an enterprise. . ``There was always the unease of not knowing what was going to happen.'' The California State Teachers Retirement System, which lost $9 million after investing in Homestore, settled the suit in August 2003. Homestore agreed to pay $13 million and issue 20 million shares of stock in reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. , valued at the time at $93 million. Objections of members of the class action delayed finalization of the suit after the court approved it in May 2004. Bruce Simon, the attorney representing the class, did not return calls seeking comment, but Homestore identified the final objector as Steven P. Helfand. Campbell said Helfand dismissed his objection A formal attestation or declaration of disapproval concerning a specific point of law or procedure during the course of a trial; a statement indicating disagreement with a judge's ruling. , with prejudice, after the company agreed to pay $185,000 to cover his legal fees. ``This will be a huge relief for management, so they don't have to put aside so much money for legal expenses,'' said Frank Gristina, a vice president of the Nashville investment bank Avondale Partners LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , which makes a market in Homestore's stock. ``This should be the last issue to deal with, so they can focus their money and their effort on the business.'' Brent Hopkins, (818) 713-3738 brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com |
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