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What is this litigation about? |
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This is a class action filed in April 1999 against McKesson, HBOC, McKesson HBOC, Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., Arthur Andersen, LLP, and certain officers or directors of McKesson or HBOC on behalf of a class, which is defined in the Notice of Pendency and Proposed Settlement of Class Action. The litigation alleges that HBOC, and after the merger with McKesson, McKesson HBOC reported fraudulent revenues, income and assets, which caused members of the class to suffer losses.
Lead Plaintiff, the New York State Common Retirement Fund (“Lead Plaintiff”), has entered into a proposed settlement of the Litigation with defendant Bear Stearns & Co. Lead Plaintiff previously entered into a settlement (the “McKesson Settlement”) with defendants McKesson Corporation (including the company formerly known as McKesson HBOC, Inc.), HBO & Company (“HBOC”), and the Individual Defendants, as more fully described in the Notice of Pendency and Proposed Settlement of Class Action Against McKesson HBOC, Inc. and HBO & Company, and Arthur Anderson LLP.
For additional details about the litigation, including details about the settlement, please refer to the Notice of Pendency and Proposed Settlement of Class Action. |
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In a class action, one or more people called class representatives (in this case, Lead Plaintiff is the New York State Common Retirement Fund), sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All these people are a class or class members. McKesson HBOC, Inc., Bear Stearns & Co. Inc, and Arthur Andersen LLP, which are being sued, are the defendants. The court will resolve the common issues for everyone in the class. The lawyers representing the class are called "class counsel".
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Why is there a settlement? |
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In summary, the Lead Plaintiff believes the Settlement is fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. Lead Plaintiff believes that $10 million in cash, plus interest; Bear Stearns’ withdrawal of the Ninth Circuit Appeal, which will permit distribution of the McKesson Settlement Fund to the Members of the Settlement Class; and the mutual releases that will effectively end all actions related to the Litigation, confers a substantial benefit to the Settlement Class after more than eight years of Litigation. Lead Plaintiff considered, among other factors, the immediacy of the recovery to the Settlement Class in lieu of protracted litigation through trial and appeals; the defenses asserted in the Litigation; and the inherent uncertainty and risk associated with a complex action, such as this one. |
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How many people are there in this class action? |
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Class counsel believes that thousands of people are members of the class. |
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Do I have to pay anything? |
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No, you do not have to pay anything.
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We cannot offer any advice as to what you should do. That said, deadlines for submitting a claim form were as follows:
For the McKesson Settlement, claim forms were to have been postmarked by February 21, 2006. If you already submitted a proof of claim form in connection with the McKesson Settlement or the AALLP Settlement, there is no need for you to submit another one. You may also get a claim form here.
The AALLP claim form post mark date was May 10, 2007 and the Bear Stearns claim form postmark date was February 11, 2008.
Exclusion requests were to have been submitted by the dates:
For the McKesson settlement, the postmark date was December 23, 2005.
For the Arthur Anderson settlement, the postmark date was March 27, 2007; and for
Bear Stearns the postmark date for exclusion requests was December 4, 2007.
If you do nothing, you will receive no part of this settlement. You will, however, remain a member of the settlement class and will otherwise be bound by the terms of the settlement. If you have already submitted a proof of claim form in connection with the McKesson Settlement or the AALLP Settlement, there is no need for you to submit another one. You must submit a valid Proof of Claim form in order to share in the Bear Stearns net settlement funds. |
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The defendants in the McKesson settlement have agreed to pay a total of $960 million, plus interest, to the class. Arthur Anderson LLP has agreed to pay a total of $72.5 million, plus interest, and the Bear Stearns settlement creates a settlement fund of $10 million, plus interest, for a total settlement amount of $1,042,500,000. All class members who file timely and valid claims are eligible to share in the allocation of the settlement fund in accordance with the Plan of Allocation. The amount that any class member will receive will depend on several factors, including, for example, when the class member purchased the securities and when they were sold, the size of the class members' claim, the number of claims filed, and the total of the losses of all claims filed. Proof of claim forms must be postmarked on or before January 11, 2008 to be considered valid. Class counsel, on behalf of class members, moved for an initial distribution of 55% of the McKesson and AALLP Settlement Funds and the Court took the matter under submission. |
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How can I contact the Class Counsel? |
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You may communicate with them by writing to: |
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McKesson HBOC Inc. Securities Litigation
c/o David Stickney and Timothy A. DeLange
12481 High Bluff Drive, Suite 300,
San Diego, California, 92130
OR
McKesson HBOC Inc Securities Litigation
c/o Leonard Barrack and M. Richard Komins
Barrack, Rodos & Bacine
3300 Two Commerce Square, 2001 Market Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. |
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What is the Settlement Fairness Hearing? |
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The Court held a hearing on January 18, 2008 and approved the proposed settlement with Bear Stearns. |
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Where can I get more information? |
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| You can call the claims administrator toll free at 1-866-217-3485, or write to:
In re McKesson HBOC, Inc. Securities Litigation
c/o Analytics Incorporated, Claims Administrator
PO Box 2005, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2005
To view detailed examples of acceptable documentation that can be submitted with your Proof of Claim, please click on the following link: Documentation.
For even more detailed information concerning the matters involved in this Action, reference is made to the pleadings, to the Stipulation, to the Orders entered by the court and to the other papers filed in the Action, which may be inspected during normal business hours, at the Office of the Clerk of the Court at the United States District Courthouse, 280 South First Street, Room 2112, San Jose, California, 95113. |
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