| Company: | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited |
| Ticker Symbol: | TEVA |
| Class Period: | Jan-1-12 to Oct-29-13 |
| Date Filed: | Jan-27-14 |
| Lead Plaintiff Deadline: | Mar-28-14 |
| Court: | Southern District of New York |
| Allegations: | |
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business operations, financial condition and prospects. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that the defendants failed to disclose that there was significant internal discord between the Board of Directors ("Board") and Teva's senior management during the Class Period (and in particular, significant differences between the Chairman of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer ("CEO")) concerning execution of the Company's strategies, including implementation of the critical Cost Cutting Program. As a result of the foregoing, the Company's stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period.
According to the Complaint, on January 1, 2012, the Chairman of Teva's Board, Phillip Frost ("Frost"), announced that Shlomo Yanai ("Yanai") was retiring as the Company's CEO and President, and that the Board had named Dr. Jeremy Levin ("Levin"), a former senior executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb, to replace Yanai in those positions.
In December 2012, Levin and his management team announced a five-year cost cutting program projected to help Teva achieve annual cost savings of $1.5 billion to $2 billion by 2018.
On October 10, 2013, Teva announced an acceleration of its cost cutting program under which it would lay off 5,000 workers worldwide in 2014, including about 800 employees in Israel.
On October 16, 2013, the press reported that the planned layoffs in Israel had generated a public uproar. One member of Israel's parliament was quoted as stating that Teva's planned layoffs were "an act of cannibalism" in light of the tax breaks and subsidies that Teva has long enjoyed in Israel.
On October 28, 2013, Channel 2 television in Israel quoted unnamed sources as indicating that Levin was considering resigning due to strong differences of opinion between himself and Frost concerning execution of Teva's strategy, including how to handle the planned layoffs in Israel. Among other things, Channel 2 cited a letter from certain senior executives to the Board stating that "the lack of unity among the board of directors and CEO hurts our ability to make the necessary changes," and urging the Board to "reconsider its intervention in the daily course of business that we believe has become common in recent months and prevents management from being able to manage Teva effectively."
Later that day, Levin denied that he was considering resigning because of disagreements with Frost and the Board, and Teva issued a separate statement saying that reports of differences of opinion between Levin and Frost over execution were "baseless."
On October 30, 2013, Teva announced that Levin would, in fact, be resigning as CEO and President. In connection with Levin's departure, Frost was quoted as stating that there were differences between the Board and Levin concerning execution of Teva's strategy.
Upon the news of Levin's departure, shares in Teva declined more than 8%, closing at $37.70 per shares on October 30, 2013, on heavy trading volume of over 51 million shares.
If you acquired the securities of the defendants during the Class Period you may, no later than the Lead Plaintiff Deadline shown above, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff through counsel of your choice. You may also choose to remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff must meet certain requirements.
