Business Services Industry

Milberg Weiss Files Class Action Suit Against OfficeMax Inc. and Its Officers and Directors Alleging Misrepresentations

Business Wire, Sept 27, 2000

Business Editors/Financial Analysts

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 27, 2000

Milberg Weiss (http://www.milberg.com/officemax/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of purchasers of OfficeMax Inc. ("OfficeMax") (NYSE:OMX) stock and publicly traded options during the period between March 2, 1999 and Sept. 30, 1999 (the "Class Period").

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, William Lerach or Darren Robbins of Milberg Weiss at 800/449-4900, or via e-mail at wsl@mwbhl.com, and Jack Landskroner of The Landskroner Law Firm at 216/241-7000. You can join this class action online at http://www.milberg.com/officemax/.> The complaint charges OfficeMax and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. OfficeMax operates a chain of several hundred discount office supply superstores or warehouses selling a broad range of office supply products, including computers. The complaint alleges that beginning on March 2, 1999, when OfficeMax reported its 4thQ fiscal 1998 ("F98") results, OfficeMax, Michael Feuer (chairman and chief executive officer) and Jeffrey L. Rutherford (executive vice president and chief financial officer) made false and misleading statements about the successful realignment of OfficeMax's business model, the strong performance and positive momentum of OfficeMax's Core Business Segment (which sold office supplies, furniture and business machines excluding computers) and the Core Business Segment's improving profitability due to its enlarged merchandise assortment and effective inventory management. These bullish representations and forecasts artificially inflated OfficeMax's stock to a Class Period high of $12-1/8 on May 18, 1999, from $7-5/8 just before the Class Period began. But then, on Sept. 30, 1999, OfficeMax revealed that its 2ndH F99 and F00 financial results were going to be much worse than earlier forecast. OfficeMax's stock fell by over 32% in two days to $5, the largest two-day percentage price decline in OfficeMax's history as a public company, on trading volume of over 10 million shares, and then continued to fall to as low as $4-1/2 per share, its lowest price ever, a drop from which it has not recovered.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of OfficeMax stock and publicly traded options during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP and The Landskroner Law Firm Ltd., who have expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.

Milberg Weiss has been actively engaged in commercial litigation, emphasizing securities and antitrust class actions, for more than 30 years. The firm has offices in New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boca Raton, Fla., and is active in major litigation pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States. The firm's reputation for excellence has been recognized on repeated occasions by courts which have appointed the firm to major positions in complex multi-district or consolidated litigations. Milberg Weiss has taken a lead role in numerous important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, and has been responsible for a number of outstanding recoveries which, in the aggregate, total approximately $20 billion.