Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, and Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. Announce Proposed Settlements in the Willis Towers Watson Shareholder Litigation
Mar 01, 2021, 10:00 ET
ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --
If you owned common stock of Towers Watson & Co. ("Towers")
on January 4, 2016, the date that the merger transaction between Towers and Willis Group Holdings plc ("Willis") closed, you could get a payment from proposed class action settlements
TO: |
(a) |
All persons and entities that were Towers shareholders, including shareholders of record and beneficial owners, as of both October 1, 2015, the record date for Towers shareholders to be eligible to vote on the merger of Towers and Willis, and January 4, 2016, the date the merger transaction between Towers and Willis closed, and who were allegedly damaged thereby (the "Federal Class"); and
|
(b) |
All persons and entities that were Towers shareholders, including shareholders of record and beneficial owners, at any time during the period from June 29, 2015 through and including January 4, 2016, together with their successors and assigns (the "Delaware Class"). |
PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY PENDING CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS.
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that:
- the action entitled In re Willis Towers Watson plc Proxy Litigation, Master File No. 1:17-cv-1338-AJT-JFA (the "Federal Action"), pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the "Federal Court"), has been certified as a class action on behalf of the Federal Class, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the Federal Court;
- the action entitled In re Towers Watson & Co. Stockholder Litigation, Consolidated C.A. No. 2018-0132-KSJM (the "Delaware Action"), pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery (the "Delaware Court" and, together with the Federal Court, the "Courts"), has been conditionally certified as a class action, for the purposes of settlement only, on behalf of the Delaware Class, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Rules of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and an Order of the Delaware Court; and
- the parties to the Federal Action and Delaware Action (together, the "Actions") have reached proposed Settlements1 for the benefit of the Federal Class and Delaware Class (collectively, the "Classes") totaling $90,000,000 in cash. Specifically, (i) Federal Lead Plaintiff The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of itself and the Federal Class, has reached a proposed settlement of the Federal Action for $75,000,000 in cash (the "Federal Settlement"); and (ii) Delaware Lead Plaintiffs City of Fort Myers General Employees' Pension Fund and Alaska Laborers-Employers Retirement Trust, on behalf of themselves and the Delaware Class, have reached a proposed settlement of the Delaware Action for $15,000,000 in cash (the "Delaware Settlement" and, together with the Federal Settlement, the "Settlements"). These proposed Settlements will be considered independently by the respective Courts but will not become effective unless and until both Settlements have been approved and become final.
If you are a member of the Federal Class and/or the Delaware Class, your rights will be affected by the proposed Settlement(s) that apply to you and any orders or judgments related to those Settlements, and you may be entitled to share in the Federal and/or Delaware Settlement Funds. If you have not yet received the full printed Notice and Claim Form, you may obtain copies of these documents by contacting the Claims Administrator at Willis Towers Watson Shareholder Litigation, c/o A.B. Data, Ltd., P.O. Box 173111, Milwaukee, WI 53217, by toll-free phone at 1-800-983-6133, or by email at [email protected]. Copies of the Notice and Claim Form can also be downloaded from the website maintained by the Claims Administrator, www.WillisTowersWatsonShareholderLitigation.com. The Notice provides additional information about the Settlements and the Classes.
The Federal Court will hold a hearing on May 21, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, before the Honorable Anthony J. Trenga, either in person at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Courtroom 701 of the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse, 401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by telephone or videoconference (in the discretion of the Federal Court) to determine: (i) whether the proposed Federal Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (ii) whether the proposed Plan of Allocation for the proceeds of the Federal Settlement is fair and reasonable and should be approved; and (iii) whether Federal Class Counsel's application for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of litigation expenses should be approved.
The Delaware Court will hold a hearing on May 25, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, before the Honorable Kathaleen McCormick, either in person at the Court of Chancery, New Castle County, Leonard L. Williams Justice Center, 500 North King Street, Wilmington, DE 19801, or by telephone or videoconference (in the discretion of the Delaware Court) to determine: (i) whether to finally certify the Delaware Class for settlement purposes only; (ii) whether the proposed Delaware Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (iii) whether the proposed Plan of Allocation for the proceeds of the Delaware Settlement is fair and reasonable and should be approved; and (iv) whether Delaware Class Counsel's application for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of litigation expenses should be approved.
If you are a member of one or both Classes, in order to be eligible to receive a payment under the proposed Settlement(s) that applies (apply) to you, you must submit a Claim Form postmarked no later than May 25, 2021. You only need to submit one Claim Form to be eligible for both Settlements. If you do not submit a proper Claim Form, you will not be eligible to share in the distribution of the net proceeds of the Settlement(s), but you will nevertheless be bound by any judgments or orders entered in the Actions related to the Settlement(s) that applies (apply) to you.
If you are a member of the Federal Class and wish to exclude yourself from the Federal Class, you must submit a written request for exclusion such that it is received no later than April 15, 2021, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice. If you are a member of the Federal Class and properly exclude yourself, you will not be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Federal Court in the Federal Action, and you will not be eligible to share in the proceeds of the Federal Settlement. The Delaware Class is conditionally certified as a non-opt-out class. You do not have the opportunity to exclude yourself from the Delaware Class.
Any objections to the proposed Settlements, the proposed Plan of Allocation for each Settlement, or counsel's motions for attorneys' fees and litigation expenses with respect to each Settlement must be filed with the relevant Court and delivered to representatives of the relevant parties, as provided in the Notice. Any objections to the Federal Settlement and matters related to the Federal Settlement must be received no later than April 15, 2021, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice. Any objections to the Delaware Settlement and matters related to the Delaware Settlement must be received no later than May 11, 2021, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice.
Please do not contact the Courts, Defendants, or Defendants' counsel regarding this notice. All questions about this notice, the proposed Settlements, or your eligibility to participate in the Settlements should be directed to the Claims Administrator or Class Counsel, listed below.
Requests for the Notice and Claim Form should be made to:
Willis Towers Watson Shareholder Litigation
c/o A.B. Data, Ltd.
P.O. Box 173111
Milwaukee, WI 53217
1-800-983-6133
[email protected]
www.WillisTowersWatsonShareholderLitigation.com
Inquiries, other than requests for the Notice and Claim Form,
should be made to Class Counsel:
Federal Class Counsel Salvatore J. Graziano, Esq. BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & GROSSMANN LLP 1251 Avenue of the Americas, 44th Floor New York, NY 10020 1-800-380-8496 |
Delaware Class Counsel Stacey A. Greenspan, Esq. KESSLER TOPAZ MELTZER 280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 1-610-667-7706 |
Christine Mackintosh, Esq. GRANT & EISENHOFER P.A. 123 Justison Street, 7th Floor Wilmington, DE 19801 1-302-622-7081 |
Dated: March 1, 2021 |
By Order of the Courts |
1 Capitalized terms not defined herein have the meaning ascribed in the (i) Notice of (I) Pendency of Class Actions and Proposed Settlements; (II) Settlement Fairness Hearings; and (III) Motions for Attorneys' Fees and Litigation Expenses (the "Notice") and/or (ii) Federal Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement for the Federal Settlement and/or Delaware Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement for the Delaware Settlement, which are available as set forth in the Notice.
SOURCE Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, and Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.
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