NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (“Robbins Geller”) (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/rayonier/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor on behalf of purchasers of Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (“Rayonier”) (NYSE:RYAM) common stock during the period between October 29, 2014 and August 19, 2015 (the “Class Period”). This action was filed in the Middle District of Tennessee and is captioned City of Warren General Employees’ Retirement System v. Rayonier Advanced Materials, Inc., No. 17-cv-01167.
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, Samuel H. Rudman or David A. Rosenfeld of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/rayonier/. 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 Rayonier and certain of its officers and/or directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Rayonier manufactures cellulose specialty products that are sold throughout the world to companies for use in various industrial applications and to produce a wide variety of products, including cigarette filters, foods, pharmaceuticals, textiles and electronics.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding Rayonier’s business and outlook. Specifically, the complaint alleges that, despite the Company’s claims during the Class Period that in 2015 Rayonier “will be able to maintain or increase [its] share of volume at each of [its] top 10 customers,” since 2013, one of its top three customers, Eastman Chemical Company (“Eastman”), had been informing Rayonier of its competitors’ pricing and had requested that Rayonier respond to declines in market pricing, leading to a protracted dispute between Rayonier and Eastman over the “meet and release” provision of their agreement. As a result of defendants’ false statements and/or omissions, Rayonier common stock traded at artificially inflated prices, reaching a Class Period high of more than $30 per share.
Then, on August 18, 2015, the Company filed a form 8-K with the SEC informing investors that the Company had filed an action against Eastman regarding its “chemical cellulose specialty products contract with Eastman.” On August 19, 2015, the Company issued a press release further explaining the dispute with Eastman. Specifically, the release stated that the language in the contract at issue involved the “meet or release” provisions of the agreement, which allow Eastman to obtain “third party offers that meet the requirements of the Supply Agreement for similar cellulose specialties products, and would require [Rayonier] to either meet such price or release the volume, thereby allowing Eastman to purchase the volume from the third party.” In addition, the release disclosed that on August 12, 2017, Eastman had filed an action against Rayonier regarding the same “meet or release” provisions in their contract. In reaction to these announcements, the price of Rayonier common stock fell $6.01 per share, or 44%, to close at $7.62 per share, on extremely heavy trading volume.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Rayonier common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud.
Robbins Geller is widely recognized as a leading law firm advising and representing U.S. and international investors in securities litigation and portfolio monitoring. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history. For the third consecutive year, the Firm ranked first in both the total amount recovered for investors and the number of shareholder class action recoveries in ISS's SCAS Top 50 Report. Robbins Geller attorneys have shaped the law in the areas of securities litigation and shareholder rights and have recovered tens of billions of dollars on behalf of the Firm’s clients. Robbins Geller not only secures recoveries for defrauded investors, it also implements significant corporate governance reforms, helping to improve the financial markets for investors worldwide. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.
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