Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action Suit Against Solazyme, Inc.
Jun 24, 2015, 10:00 ET
SAN DIEGO, June 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP ("Robbins Geller") (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/solazyme/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of purchasers of Solazyme, Inc. ("Solazyme") (NASDAQ:SZYM) securities during the period between February 27, 2014 and November 5, 2014 (the "Class Period"), including pursuant and/or traceable to either of Solazyme's two registered public offerings on March 27, 2014 (the "Offerings").
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Darren Robbins of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at [email protected]. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/solazyme/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges Solazyme, certain of its officers and directors and the underwriters of the Offerings with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and/or the Securities Act of 1933. Solazyme is a bioproducts company that uses algae-based fermentation to produce renewable oils for a range of personal and industrial uses.
On March 25, 2014, Solazyme filed with the SEC a Registration Statement for the Offerings, which was amended the next day to register an additional $12.75 million in aggregate maximum principal amount of stock and notes. On March 27, 2014, Solazyme filed a Prospectus in connection with the offering of $149.5 million in convertible notes paying 5% interest and scheduled to mature in 2019 (the "Notes"). On the same day, Solazyme filed a Prospectus for the offering of 5.75 million shares of stock at $11 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $63.25 million.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period and in the Registration Statements and Prospectuses for the Offerings, defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information about Solazyme's construction progress, development and production capacity at its renewable oils production facility located in Moema, Brazil (the "Moema Facility"). Specifically, the complaint alleges defendants' statements were false and misleading because they failed to disclose that the Moema Facility was experiencing construction delays due to insufficient access to electricity and steam utility services, and that these challenges would prohibit the Moema Facility from scaling its capacity production as projected. As a result of these false and misleading statements and/or omissions, Solazyme securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period.
On May 5, 2014, Solazyme reported operational results for the first quarter of 2014. During the related conference call, Solazyme's CEO stated that, rather than being "online" with "everything functioning as expected," as defendants had previously claimed, the Moema Facility was instead "experiencing intermittent power and steam availability," and consequently had failed to produce its first commercial product. Then, after the markets closed on November 5, 2014, Solazyme acknowledged significant and wide-ranging construction delays at the Moema Facility. On that day, the Company revealed for the first time that it would "narrow [its] production focus to smaller volumes of higher value products at . . . Moema" and would be "prioritizing cash management and product margin over a rapid capacity ramp." On this news, the price of the Company's stock declined $4.35 per share, or 58%, to close at $3.14 per share on November 6, 2014, and the market price of Solazyme's Notes declined by $235.00 per Note, or 30%, to close at $540.00 per Note on November 7, 2014, the next session in which the Notes traded.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Solazyme securities during the Class Period, including pursuant and/or traceable to the Offerings (the "Class").
Robbins Geller, with 200 lawyers in ten offices, has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions, including actions involving financial fraud, and represents U.S. and international institutional investors in contingency-based securities and corporate litigation. The firm has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history and was ranked first in both the amount and number of shareholder class action recoveries in ISS's SCAS Top 50 report for 2014. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/solazyme/ for more information.
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SOURCE Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP