Blue Square Announces it was Served With a Claim and Request for Approval as a Class Action
14 Septiembre 2009 - 11:40AM
PR Newswire (US)
ROSH HAAYIN, Israel, September 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blue
Square-Israel Ltd. (NYSE:BSI) (hereinafter: "Blue Square")
announced that it was served with a claim and a request for
approval as a class action (the "Claim"), in which Blue Square is
being sued regarding the sale of cosmetics and perfume products
without marking the expiry date or the allowed use period after its
opening, as is allegedly obligatory according to the 15 amendment
of the Pharmacists directive [new edition] 1981 which is in effect
since July 1st 2009. The Claim requests that Blue Square will
return the purchase price to all customers who purchased such
cosmetics and perfume products since July 1st 2009 or compensate
them by paying the gross profit derived from those sales, along
with additional compensation. The plaintiff's personal claim is
estimated by him at approx. NIS 175 and if the Claim is approved as
a class action, the approximate claim is estimated by the plaintiff
at least at NIS 13 million. In addition, the plaintiff requests
that the court will issue an injunction forbidding the company from
selling such products without the marked expiry date or the maximum
allowed period for use after opening. Blue Square is currently
reviewing the Claim and denying all above allegations, however, at
this preliminary stage of the proceedings, it is unable to evaluate
its likelihood of success in the proceedings, including the
likelihood that the Claim will be certified as a class action. Blue
Square-Israel Ltd. is a leading retailer in Israel. A pioneer of
modern food retailing, in the region. Blue Square currently
operates 202 supermarkets under different formats, each offering
varying levels of services and prices. For more information, please
refer to the Blue Square-Israel Ltd. website at
http://www.bsi.co.il/. Forward Looking Statements This press
release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may include, but are
not limited to, plans or projections about our business and our
future revenues, expenses and profitability. Forward-looking
statements may be, but are not necessarily, identified by the use
of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "anticipates,"
"estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," and words
and terms of similar substance. Forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause actual events, results, performance, circumstance and
achievements to be materially different from any future events,
results, performance, circumstance and achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks,
uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to,
the following: our ability to compete effectively against
low-priced supermarkets and other competitors; the effect of the
recession in Israel on the sales in our stores and on our
profitability; quarterly fluctuations in our operating results that
may cause volatility of our ADS and share price; risks associated
with our dependence on a limited number of key suppliers for
products that we sell in our stores; the effect of an increase in
minimum wage in Israel on our operating results; the effect of any
actions taken by the Israeli Antitrust Authority on our ability to
execute our business strategy and on our profitability; the effect
of increases in oil, raw material and product prices in recent
years; the effects of damage to our reputation or to the reputation
to our store brands due to reports in the media or otherwise; and
other risks, uncertainties and factors disclosed in our filings
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but
not limited to, risks, uncertainties and factors identified under
the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for
the year ended December 31, 2008. You are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date of this press release. Except for our ongoing
obligations to disclose material information under the applicable
securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update the
forward-looking information contained in this press release.
Contact: Blue Square-Israel Ltd. Elli Levinson-Sela General Counsel
& Corporate Secretary Telephone: +972-3-9282670 Fax:
+972-3-9282498 Email: DATASOURCE: Blue Square Israel Ltd CONTACT:
Contact: Blue Square-Israel Ltd., Elli Levinson-Sela, General
Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Telephone: +972-3-9282670, Fax:
+972-3-9282498, Email:
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