Shareholders take BWIA to court By Orion Ganase T'dad Express BWIA shareholders have taken the airline to court charging it with=20 misrepresenting its December 2000 Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares.= =20 The BWIA shareholders, led by plaintiff Demetra Romero, allege that the=20 airline=92s directors and senior executives ran the company in a way that=20 =93unfairly disregards the interests=94 of stock holders. The shareholders= are=20 seeking a refund of the money they invested to buy shares and/or a forensic= =20 audit of BWIA=92s operations. They are also seeking: =95Reviews of all contracts entered into by BWIA, its subsidiaries, partners= =20 and affiliates. =95Up to date management accounts of BWIA and its associates for the years= =20 1995 to 2002, including details of all accounting items. The shareholders=92s suit demands answers to a range of questions, including= =20 the basis for setting the share price at $7.85 in December 2000 which=20 dropped to $2.80 within six months and then to its current low of $2.25=20 They also want to know the airline=92s basis for promising a net profit of= =20 US$9.2 million for 2001 in its prospectus. For the 2001 fiscal year the=20 airline posted a net loss of US$694,000. Further: =95Whether BWIA has borrowed money, how much, why, from whom and at what=20 rates of interest. =95Why BWIA=92s Initial Public Offering in December 2000 was not= underwritten. =95The meaning of a reported statement by BWIA chief executive officer= Conrad=20 Aleong that the reduction in share value was due to the imbalance of supply= =20 and demand and the flooding of the market with shares by shareholders of=20 pre-1995. Filed on December 30, 2002, the action was brought before the High Court at= =20 the eleventh hour, just days short of the second anniversary of the IPO,=20 which was the deadline for legal challenges to the IPO under the Securities= =20 Act. BWIA entered an appearance into the matter on January 3 but are yet to file= =20 any documents responding to the allegations. BWIA=92s Communications= Director=20 Clint WIlliams declined comment when contacted by the Express yesterday.=20 =93We prefer not to comment on something that is before the courts,=94 said= =20 Williams. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.atlanticlng.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************