Shareholders sue Crompton over price-fixing admission

AKRON (July 23)—Law firms in California, Maryland and Pennsylvania are suing Crompton Corp. on behalf of shareholders over the company's admission of price fixing in the rubber chemicals market. The action in the U.S. District Court for the northern district of California is on behalf of purchasers of shares in Crompton and its forerunner companies Crompton & Knowles Corp. and Witco Corp. The firms—San Diego-based Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach L.L.P., Baltimore-based Charles J. Piven P.A., and Bala Cynwyd, Pa.-based Brodsky & Smith L.L.C.—allege that Crompton and certain of its executives caused the group's shares to trade at "artificially high levels." The action covers a class period between Oct. 26, 1998, and Oct. 8, 2002. During this period Milberg Weiss claims Crompton shares "traded at inflated prices enabling the company to refinance its debt and consummate a major acquisition using its inflated securities as currency."