Persons and Entities who were Indirect Purchasers of Publication Paper or Purchasers of Products that contain Publication Paper from June 8, 2000 to January 29, 2014 may be affected by a class action settlement

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Saveri & Saveri, Inc. and Trump, Alioto & Prescott LLP announce that your rights may be affected by class action lawsuits entitled The Harman Press v. International Paper Co., et al., San Francisco Superior Court Case No. CGC-04-432167. The Court has preliminarily approved a settlement agreement (the "Settlement Agreement") between Plaintiffs and defendants Stora Enso North America Corporation, n/k/a NewPage Wisconsin System, Inc. ("SENA") and Stora Enso Oyj ("SEO"), (collectively, the "Settling Defendants"), and has scheduled a hearing to consider the fairness, adequacy, and reasonableness of the proposed settlement. If the Court grants final approval to the settlement, all named defendants will have settled and the litigation will be concluded.

WHAT ARE THE LAWSUITS ABOUT? Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and all other similarly situated persons and entities in the State of California, allege that Settling Defendants and UPM-Kymmene Corporation (collectively "Defendants") have unlawfully conspired to fix, raise, maintain, or stabilize the price of Publication Paper, and that such conduct violates the antitrust and/or consumer protection laws of California. Defendants deny liability.

WHAT IS PUBLICATION PAPER? Publication Paper refers to paper that contains a layer of coating material, such as kaolin, calcium carbonate, titanium oxide, latex and/or other materials, in combination with an adhesive, on one or both surface(s) of the papers, and consists of coated groundwood and coated freesheet papers in grades 1 through 5.

WHO IS AN INDIRECT PURCHASER? An indirect purchaser is a person or entity (1) who bought Publication Paper from someone other than a manufacturer of Publication Paper, including the Defendants or their subsidiaries or affiliates, or (2) who purchased products that contain Publication Paper, such as magazines and flyers.

WHO IS IN THE SETTLEMENT CLASS? All persons who resided in California and all entities which had a place of business in California as of November 21, 2014, whether or not a resident of or a business located in California at the time of purchase, and, at any time during the period June 8, 2000 up to and including January 29, 2014, indirectly purchased in the State of California, Publication Paper from any of the Defendants are in the "Settlement Class."

WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT TERMS? In exchange for the release of claims by the Settlement Class, SEO has agreed to pay $125,000. The Settlement Amount plus interest is the "Settlement Fund." In addition, SEO has agreed to pay into the Settlement Fund an amount equal to one-half the cost of the expenses of providing notice of the settlement to the Class, up to a maximum total payment of $12,500. The Settlement Fund, plus $900,000 recovered in a prior settlement with UPM-Kymmene Corporation, is the "Combined Settlement Fund."

HOW WILL THE COMBINED SETTLEMENT FUND BE DISTRIBUTED? Plaintiffs' Counsel will submit a plan of distribution to the Court for distribution of the Combined Settlement Fund in the litigation, less court-approved costs, expenses and attorneys' fees not to exceed 1/3 of the Combined Settlement Fund, to eligible non-profit organizations in the State of California who are, as nearly as practicable, representative of the interests of indirect purchasers of Publication Paper, or to other such organizations as the Court may approve or direct, in accordance with applicable law. Plaintiffs' Counsel shall submit the names and identities of eligible non-profit organizations for the Court's approval at the fairness hearing. Plaintiffs propose distributing the Combined Settlement Fund in this manner due to the high cost of processing claims and making direct cash distributions to potentially millions of claimants relative to the average likely award to those claimants. Under the plan of distribution, payments will not be made to Settlement Class Members. The plan of distribution is not part of the Settlement Agreement, and any order of the Court relating to such plan shall not affect the finality of the Settlement Agreement.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? If you wish to remain a member of the Settlement Class you need not take any action. You will be bound by the judgment of the Court regarding your claims and cannot present them in another lawsuit. If you don't want to be a member of the Settlement Class, or be legally bound by the Settlement, you must exclude yourself in writing by March 2, 2015. If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will preserve your right, if any, to sue SENA and SEO regarding the legal claims in this case. However, on September 7, 2011, SENA and certain of its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the "Bankruptcy Cases"). The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware confirmed the Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan of SENA, and on December 21, 2012, the Chapter 11 plan became effective. SENA received a discharge from claims under the terms of its confirmed and effective Chapter 11 plan in the Bankruptcy Cases. For more details regarding SENA's bankruptcy, please review the Detailed Notice on www.CaliforniaPublicationPaperSettlement.com. 

The Detailed Notice also describes how to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class and how to object to the Settlement. If you remain a Settlement Class Member, you may object to the Settlement by March 2, 2015. The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing at 9:00 a.m. on March 30, 2015, at 400 McAllister St., Dept. 304, San Francisco, CA 94102. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate and should be granted final approval. You may appear at the hearing, but you don't have to.

HOW CAN I OBTAIN THE FULL NOTICE AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT? You may obtain a copy of the full notice and the proposed settlement by (a) contacting California Publication Paper Antitrust Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 6177, Novato, CA 94948-6177, 1-866-335-1850; or (b) visiting the website: www.CaliforniaPublicationPaperSettlement.com.

All questions you may have concerning the Settlement Agreement or this Summary Notice should be directed to the Settlement Administrator. PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE OR ADDRESS INQUIRIES TO THE COURT.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/persons-and-entities-who-were-indirect-purchasers-of-publication-paper-or-purchasers-of-products-that-contain-publication-paper-from-june-8-2000-to-january-29-2014-may-be-affected-by-a-class-action-settlement-300013438.html

SOURCE Saveri & Saveri, Inc.; Trump, Alioto & Prescott LLP