In re Parmalat Securities Litigation

In the wake of the financial collapse of the Italian giant Parmalat, a massive class action in the United States sought global certification of a class of shareholders and bondholders.  Coming off of its leadership in the ground-breaking $1.1 billion global Royal Ahold securities settlement, Hilsoft Notifications, the global notification pioneer, was called upon to demonstrate manageability of notice to the worldwide class—a central peg in class certification requirements—through a detailed expert affidavit.

Later, when a partial settlement with two Parmalat securities issuing banks was proposed, Hilsoft was asked to develop and oversee the implementation of a comprehensive notification program.  Judge Kaplan applauded the detailed notice plan, which called for noticeable, plain language notices to be disseminated through a massive multi-language mailing and publication effort, together with a global news release effort and multilingual website. 

The notice program achieved a significant calculable reach where class members primarily resided, reinforcing Hilsoft’s reach-based notice planning leadership. Hilsoft's mission was to replace the old-fashioned “traditional” securities class action notice model with the more modern-style communications approach it developed and that is endorsed by the Federal Judicial Center for securities class actions (See www.fjc.gov for illustrative “model” securities class action notices and PSLRA cover letter written and designed by Hilsoft Notifications in collaboration with the FJC and Dr. Terri R. Leclercq).

Ensuring adequate reach in Italy, where the class members were predominantly located, was central to notice adequacy, and reach had to be assured leading up to the fairness hearing.  In addition to prominent media in numerous countries, Hilsoft Notifications negotiated media placements in Italy that far outstripped the notice plan, assuring significant notice coverage regardless of the success of mailing effort.

In connection with final court approval proceedings, Hilsoft Notifications provided a detailed expert report and analysis of the overall adequacy of notice, helping provide the evidence necessary for due process satisfaction and court-approval of the partial settlement.

Back to Home