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Venator Materials PLC

Company NameVenator Materials PLC
Stock SymbolVNTR
Class PeriodAugust 02, 2017 to October 29, 2018
Lead Plaintiff Motion DeadlineSeptember 30, 2019

On January 30, 2017, a fire damaged the Company’s titanium dioxide manufacturing plant in Pori, Finland. Before the fire, the Pori facility produced up to 17% of the Company’s total titanium dioxide capacity.

In August 2017, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) and sold more than 26 million shares at $20 per share. Then, in December 2017, the Company completed a secondary public offering and sold 23.7 million shares at $22.50 per share.

On July 31, 2018, the Company announced that costs to repair the facility would more than $375 million above insurance policy limits, over double the amount previously disclosed to investors.

On this news, shares of Venator fell $0.73 per share, or nearly 5%, to close at $14.62 per share on July 31, 2018, thereby injuring investors.

Then, on September 12, 2018, the Company announced it would discontinue use of the Pori facility despite previous reports that the facility could be restored to full operating capacity. Moreover, the damaged facility had only been operating at 20% capacity and had not meaningfully increased production since the IPO.

On this news, shares of Venator fell $0.54 per share, or nearly 5%, to close at $10.81 per share on September 12, 2018, thereby further injuring investors.

Then on October 30, 2018, the Company relayed that, in addition to the nearly $500 million in costs and lost business as a result of the fire, it incurred an additional $415 million in restructuring expenses and would incur future charges of $220 million through the end of 2024 related to the Pori facility.

On this news, shares of Venator fell $1.53 per share, or over 19%, to close at $6.47 per share on October 30, 2018, thereby further injuring investors.

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 the fire damage at the Pori facility was far more extensive than disclosed to investors, rendering the facility beyond repair; (2) that the true cost of the Pori facility fire exceeded $1 billion, hundreds of millions of dollars beyond the limits of the Company’s insurance policy; (3) that the Company was paying rebuilding premiums, and thereby incurring tens of millions of dollars in additional costs, in a futile attempt to expedite the rehabilitation process; (4) that Venator had lost, essentially without prospect of rehabilitation, 80% of the production capacity of the Pori facility, and thus lost a substantial portion of one of its largest revenue producing assets; (5) the Company’s reported annual Titanium Dioxide production capacity had been inflated by approximately 104,000 metric tons, or 15%; and (6) that as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ public statements were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

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