Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Reminds Investors That Class Action Lawsuits Have Been Filed Against Provention Bio, Washington Prime, Virgin Galactic, and RLX and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm
NEW YORK, June 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class actions have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of Provention Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRVB), Washington Prime Group, Inc. (NYSE: WPG), Virgin Galactic, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE), and RLX Technology, Inc. (NYSE: RLX). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided.
Provention Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRVB)
Class Period: November 2, 2020 to April 8, 2021
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 20, 2021
On April 8, 2021, Provention Bio issued a press release “announc[ing] that the Company received a notification on April 2, 2021 from the [FDA], stating that, as part of its ongoing review of the Company’s [BLA] for teplizumab for the delay or prevention of clinical [T1D], the FDA has identified deficiencies that preclude discussion of labeling and post-marketing requirements/commitments at this time.”
On this news, Provention's stock price fell $1.73 per share, or 17.78%, to close at $8.00 per share on April 9, 2021.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that: (i) Provention Bio’s teplizumab BLA was deficient in its submitted form and would require additional data to secure FDA approval; (ii) accordingly, Provention Bio’s teplizumab BLA lacked the evidentiary support Provention Bio had led investors to believe it possessed; (iii) Provention Bio had thus overstated the teplizumab BLA’s approval prospects and hence the commercialization timeline for teplizumab; and (iv) as a result, Provention Bio’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On February 16, 2021, WPG disclosed that its operating partnership, Washington Prime Group, L.P. (“WPG L.P.”), had “elected to withhold an interest payment of $23.2 million due on February 15, 2021 with respect to WPG L.P.’s outstanding Senior Notes due 2024,” and that “WPG L.P. has a 30-day grace period to make the interest payment before such non-payment constitutes an ‘event of default.’” The Company further advised that, in an event of default, certain counterparties to the senior notes “could accelerate the outstanding indebtedness due . . . making such indebtedness due and payable, which would result in a cross-default with respect to some of WPG L.P.’s or the Company’s other indebtedness.”
On this news, the Company’s stock price fell $4.59, or 38%, to close at $7.49 per share on February 16, 2021, on unusually heavy volume.
Then, on March 4, 2021, Bloomberg reported that WPG “is preparing a potential bankruptcy filing as time runs out to avert default after it skipped an interest payment on its debt, according to people with knowledge of the plans.”
On this news, the Company’s stock price fell $3.77, or 60%, to close at $2.51 per share on March 4, 2021, on unusually heavy volume.
The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that WPG’s financial condition was deteriorating substantially; (2) that, as a result, there was substantial uncertainty about the Company’s ability to meet its capital structure obligations as they became due; and (3) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
On October 25, 2019, post-market, Virgin Galactic was formed via a business combination between Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. (“SCH”), a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”), and the Company’s then-private predecessor (“Legacy Virgin Galactic”), after which SCH changed its name to “Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc.” and its ticker symbol to “SPCE” (the “Business Combination”).
On April 12, 2021, the SEC issued guidance advising that SPAC warrants, which are instruments that allow investors to buy additional shares at a fixed price, may need to be classified as liabilities rather than equity for many SPAC transactions, which had previously been accounted for as equity in these deals.
Throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) for accounting purposes, SCH’s warrants were required to be treated as liabilities rather than equities; (ii) Virgin Galactic had deficient disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting; (iii) as a result, the Company improperly accounted for SCH warrants that were outstanding at the time of the Business Combination; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On April 30, 3021, post-market, Virgin Galactic announced “that it has rescheduled the reporting of its financial results for the first quarter 2021 to following the close of the U.S. markets on Monday, May 10, 2021. Virgin Galactic will now host a conference call to discuss the results and provide a business update that day at 2:00 p.m., Pacific Time (5:00 p.m., Eastern Time). The Company is rescheduling its reporting due to the recent statement issued by the [SEC] on April 12, 2021 relating to the accounting treatment of warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies (the ‘SEC Statement’).” The press release further advised that “following its review of the SEC Statement and consulting with its advisors, the Company will restate its consolidated financial statements included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. The restatement is due solely to the accounting treatment for the warrants of Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. that were outstanding at the time of the Company’s business combination on October 25, 2019. The Company expects to file the restated financials prior to the new conference call date and estimates that it will recognize incremental non-operating, non-cash expense for each of the fiscal years ended December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019.”
On this news, Virgin Galactic’s stock price fell $2.01 per share, or 9.07%, to close at $20.14 per share on May 3, 2021.
Class Period: Pursuant and/or traceable to the January 22, 2021 IPO
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 9, 2021
RLX Technology purports to be the “No. 1 branded e-vapor company in China,” which it also claims is its “largest potential market.” In January 2021, as part of RLX Technology’s IPO, defendants issued approximately 116.5 million ADS to the investing public at $12 per ADS, raising approximately $1.4 billion in gross proceeds.
On or about March 22, 2021, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology posted draft regulations confirming that e-cigarettes and new tobacco products would be regulated similar to traditional tobacco offerings. On this news, RLX Technology’s ADS price declined nearly 48%.
Then, on June 2, 2021, RLX Technology published its first quarter 2021 financial results, revealing a mere 48% increase in net revenues quarter over quarter, and second quarter guidance suggesting that its gross margin would only “remain steady.” On this news, RLX Technology’s ADS price fell an additional 9%. By the commencement of this action, RLX Technology’s ADSs traded more than 32% below the IPO offering price.
The RLX Technology class action lawsuit alleges that the Registration Statement contained untrue statements of material fact and omitted to state material facts both required by governing regulations and necessary to make the statements made not misleading. Among other things, the RLX Technology class action lawsuit alleges that the Registration Statement misrepresented and omitted that RLX Technology knew (or had information making it foreseeable to know), at the time of the IPO, that China was working on a national standard for e-cigarettes that would bring them into line with regular cigarette regulations. The RLX Technology class action lawsuit further alleges that RLX Technology knew that its reported financials were not nearly as rosy as the Registration Statement made it seem, nor indicative of future results. By omitting these facts and, for example, representing that the risk of regulation was only a contingent possibility, the RLX Technology class action lawsuit alleges that investors were unable to adequately assess the value of the shares offered in connection with the IPO, and thus purchased their ADSs without material information and to their detriment.
About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
