NEW YORK, March 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") QIHU and certain of its officers and directors. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Central District of California, and indexed under 19-cv-01619, is on behalf of a class consisting of all former owners of Qihoo 360 stock and American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") who: (a) sold shares, and were damaged thereby, during the period between January 11, 2016 and July 15, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"); and/or (b) held shares as of July 15, 2016. Excluded from the Class are Defendants, members of the immediate family of Individual Defendants, any subsidiary or affiliate of Qihoo 360, and the directors and officers of Qihoo 360 and their families and affiliates at all relevant times, and anyone who filed a petition or pursued appraisal rights of their Qihoo 360 stock pursuant to Cayman Law.
If you are a shareholder who purchased Qihoo 360 securities during the class period, you have until March 18, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here to join this class action]
Qihoo 360, formerly known as Qihoo Technology Company Limited, is purported to be the leading internet company in the People's Republic of China.
On December 18, 2015, Qihoo 360 announced that it had entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which it would be acquired by a consortium of investors in an "all-cash transaction valued at approximately $9.3 billion, including the redemption of approximately $1.6 billion of debt." Pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement, "each of the Company's class A and class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the merger (the "Shares") will be cancelled and cease to exist in exchange for the right to receive US$ 51.33 in cash without interest, and each American Depositary Share ("ADS") of the Company, every two ADSs representing three class A ordinary shares, will be cancelled in exchange for the right to receive US$77.00 in cash without interest," except for certain Shares. The Merger was authorized and approved by a shareholder vote on March 30, 2016 during an extraordinary general meeting and became effective on July 15, 2016.
Contrary to the Company's repeated reassurances about no substantial changes to its structures or relisting following the Merger, shortly after the going-private deal was closed, media news outlets reported on the Company's relisting plans. For example, the Financial Times reported on February 28, 2017, that materials used in fundraising "for the privatization of Qihoo 360" also discussed the "return to the A Shares" market in China. This article described the "return to investors" upon an "exit" (i.e., a transaction allowing those taking Qihoo 360 private to "exit" their position through a relisting), stating that the return "may be as high as 5 [times]" the going-private price.
This deal, operating as a "backdoor listing," would allow Qihoo 360 to return to the stock market by relisting on the Shanghai Stock Exchange at a multiple, to the detriment of shareholders who unknowingly sold Qihoo 360's stock and ADS at substantially deflated values during the Class Period as part of the scheme. Formally announced on November 6, 2017, the deal involved Shanghai-listed elevator-maker SJEC agreeing to buy Qihoo 360 through an asset swap and cash injection.
As a result of these material misrepresentations and omissions, Qihoo 360 shareholders were misled into accepting consideration from the Merger that was well below fair value for their Qihoo 360 shares.
The Complaint alleges that between December 18, 2015 and July 15, 2016, in order to convince Qihoo 360 stockholders to vote in favor of the Merger, Defendants authorized the filing of materially false and misleading statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Proxy statements and Annual Report contained materially incomplete and/or misleading disclosures. Specifically, the Proxy and Annual Report are deficient and misleading as they fail to provide adequate disclosure of all material information related to the Merger. The Proxy and Annual Report also failed to disclose Qihoo 360's upcoming plan to relist its shares in the People's Republic of China.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
888-476-6529 ext. 9980
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