LAWSUIT ALERT: The Law Firm of Andrews & Springer LLC Announces That a Securities Fraud Class Action Has Been Filed Against Walgreen Co. - WAG

WILMINGTON, Del., June 02, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Andrews & Springer LLC, a boutique securities class action law firm focused on representing shareholders nationwide, announced today that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors of Walgreen Co. WAG, a formerly publicly traded company and current subsidiary of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., WBA ("Walgreens" or the "Company") that held shares between March 25, 2014 and August 5, 2014 (the "Class Period"). If you purchased Walgreens securities during the Class Period, you may, no later than June 9, 2015, request that the Court appoint you lead plaintiff of the proposed class.

A copy of the complaint is available from the Court or from Andrews & Springer LLC. If you would like to join the class action, please visit our website or contact Craig J. Springer, Esq. at cspringer@andrewsspringer.com, or call toll free at 1-800-423-6013. You may also follow us on LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/company/andrews-&-springer-llc, Twitter – www.twitter.com/AndrewsSpringer or Facebook - www.facebook.com/AndrewsSpringer for future updates. 

NO CLASS HAS YET BEEN CERTIFIED IN THE ABOVE ACTION. UNTIL A CLASS IS CERTIFIED, YOU ARE NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL UNLESS YOU RETAIN ONE. YOU MAY ALSO REMAIN AN ABSENT CLASS MEMBER AND DO NOTHING AT THIS POINT. YOU MAY RETAIN COUNSEL OF YOUR CHOICE. 

According to the lawsuit, during the Class Period, Walgreens made false and misleading statements about the benefits of the Alliance Boots merger and overstated its fiscal year 2016 earnings target, which was based on the purported benefits of the corporate combination. As a result of these fraudulent statements, Walgreens' stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period.

On August 4, 2014, the truth about Walgreens' cover-up began to be revealed when the Company announced that its Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), Wade Miquelon, would be resigning as CFO. Two days later, on August 6, 2014, Walgreens publicly announced that it would be reducing its 2016 forecasted pharmacy unit earnings by $1.8 billion, in part because of a decline in reimbursement rates and lower profitability from generic drugs.

As a result of this news, Walgreens' stock price fell 14.34%, wiping out $9.4 billion of its market value. Soon therafter, the Company also announced that its Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") would be resigning.   

Articles published by The Wall Street Journal criticized Miquelon's performance at Walgreens and blamed Miquelon for the Company's dramatically revised forecast. On October 16, 2014 Miquelon filed a complaint against the Company in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.  A copy of the complaint can be found here. Among other things, the complaint alleges that Walgreen President and Chief Executive Officer Gregory Wasson ("Wasson") defamed Miquelon during a series of meetings with large shareholders, motivated by a desire to cover up or obscure the misconduct of certain Walgreen directors. The complaint further alleges that Wasson and Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina and the rest of the board of directors were complacent in allowing certain activist investors to pressure Walgreen management to raise its earnings forecast for the 2016 fiscal year.  The complaint also alleges that Wasson and Pessina improperly interfered with the Company's financial reporting process.   

Andrews & Springer is a boutique securities class action law firm representing shareholders nationwide who are victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty or corporate misconduct. Having formerly defended some of the largest financial institutions in the world, our founding members use their valuable knowledge, experience, and superior skill for the sole purpose of achieving positive results for investors. These traits are the hallmarks of our innovative approach to each case our Firm decides to prosecute. For more information please visit our website at www.andrewsspringer.com. This notice may constitute Attorney Advertising.