The U.S. District Court, Portland Division, has approved a $5 million deal Vestas had proposed to settle a 2011 class action lawsuit against the turbine maker, its U.S. subsidiary, and certain officers and directors.
The lawsuit relates to purchases of American Depositary Receipts and ordinary shares bought in U.S. domestic transactions during the class period between Feb. 11, 2009, and Feb. 9, 2012.
One of the allegations raised by the plaintiffs was that Vestas' share price had been inflated during the class period due to misstatements and omissions in relation to the company's accounting for supply-and-installation contracts.
Vestas expressly denies all allegations in the lawsuit and maintains that its disclosures to the public were appropriate at all times. The company, therefore, says it does not concede any wrongdoing or liability in relation to the claims raised against it.
Nevertheless, Vestas says it deemed a resolution desirable in order to end the substantial expenses, burdens and uncertainties associated with continued litigation. The company reached the conditional settlement earlier this year.
As part of the deal, the company will make a cash payment of $5 million to the plaintiffs, and this amount will be paid in its entirety by Vestas' insurer. Claims against the individual officers and directors were also dropped. This deal will become final 30 days after the U.S. court approval unless the decision is appealed.
Vestas notes that this settlement does not affect other transactions or a separate lawsuit that was filed in Denmark by shareholders in August 2013.
