Paris, February 23, 2011
Vivendi: USA Class Action
Vivendi announced that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed the claims of all purchasers of Vivendi’s ordinary shares and has limited the case to claims of French, American, British and Dutch purchasers of Vivendi’s American Depositary Shares.
This ruling, which was expected after the decision of the Supreme Court in Morrison v. National Australia Bank Corp., has the effect of eliminating more than 80 percent of the potential damages that could have been awarded following the jury’s verdict against Vivendi in January 2010. Vivendi plans to make a significant reduction in the provisions that it established following the jury’s verdict.
“We are very satisfied with today’s decision”, said Vivendi’s CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy. “It is a substantial victory for Vivendi. Judge Holwell has upheld a position that Vivendi has urged since the beginning of the class action litigation, that claims by shareholders who purchased Vivendi ordinary shares should not be brought before a U.S. court.”
Vivendi will now analyze the decision in detail to determine its next steps.
Important disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, business, strategy and plans of Vivendi. Although Vivendi believes that such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control, including, but not limited to, the risks described in the documents Vivendi filed with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (French securities regulator) and which are also available in English on our web site (). Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of documents filed by Vivendi with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers at www.amf-france.org, or directly from Vivendi. The present forward-looking statements are made as of the date of the present press release and Vivendi disclaims any intention or obligation to provide, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
