CAMARILLO, Calif., December 20,
2001 --- California Amplifier Inc., (Nasdaq: CAMP), today announced that it
had reached agreements to settle various litigation matters pending against the
Company.
The litigation: includes twenty
independent putative class actions filed in federal court regarding the
announcement on March 29, 2001 of the resignation of the Company’s controller
and the overstatement of net income for the fiscal year ended February 26, 2000
and the subsequent restatement of fiscal year 2000 and the interim periods of
fiscal years 2001; a shareholder derivative suit, entitled Charles Medalie v.
California Amplifier, Inc. et al., filed in Los Angeles Superior Court; and a
rescission suit filed in the United States District Court, Central District of
California, Western Division by the insurance company providing coverage
applicable to the class action and derivative suit.
Under terms of the settlements, the
Company’s primary directors and officers liability insurance carrier will pay
$575,000 to the plaintiffs and withdraw its rescission action, and the Company
will pay $925,000 to the plaintiffs.
This represents a total settlement of $1.5 million. In addition, the Company has the option to
issue up to $500,000 of its payment in the form of common stock in lieu of
cash. The settlements will result in a
pre-tax charge of $925,000 to the Company’s fiscal year 2002 third quarter
statement of operations.
Fred Sturm,
President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We believed we had
meritorious defenses to these lawsuits.
However, the resolution of these various lawsuits was in the best
interest of our stockholders, as the risks and costs to litigate these suits as
well as the resource commitment by key executives would have far outweighed the
cost of settlement. These settlements
resolve all pending litigation related to the Company’s recent financial
restatements. California Amplifier
continues to cooperate with the SEC in its investigation into these
restatements.”
About California Amplifier, Inc.
California Amplifier designs, markets and manufactures
a broad line of integrated microwave fixed point solutions used primarily in
conjunction with satellite and terrestrial broadband applications. The
Company’s wireless access business unit designs and markets integrated
reception and two-way transmission fixed wireless solutions for video, voice,
data, telephony and networking applications. The satellite business unit
designs and markets reception components for the worldwide DBS television
market as well as a full line of consumer and commercial products for video and
data reception. California Amplifier is an ISO 9001 certified company.
For additional information, visit California Amplifier’s web site at www.calamp.com.
Statements in this release
about the Company’s future financial performance and settlement of litigations
are forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Words such
as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,”
“could,” “estimates” and variations of
these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Factors that could impact
California Amplifier’s future results include changes in product demand and
market growth rates, the effect of competition, pricing pressures, supplier
constraints, manufacturing yields, market acceptance of new products and the
viability and market acceptance of new technologies. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give
no assurance that its expectations will be attained. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise. More information about California Amplifier’s risks is
available in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K and other filings made
from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
For more information, contact:
Crocker Coulson Rick
Vitelle
Partner Chief
Financial Officer
Coffin Communications Group California Amplifier, Inc.
(818) 789-0100 (805)
987-9000
crocker.coulson@coffincg.com