In Re Clorox Company Securities Litigation

CORRECTED ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS

I. INTRODUCTION

The above captioned action is a consolidated putative class action securities law suit. A variety of plaintiffs (collectively “Plaintiffs” or the “Class”) filed actions on behalf of all persons who purchased the common stock of the Clorox Company (“Clorox”) between October 19, 1998 and August 11, 1999 alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (the “PSLRA”). 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4 (1996). Defendants now have moved for partial summary judgment and summary judgment on the pleadings. For the following reasons, Defendants’ motion is granted.

II. BACKGROUND

This Court’s previous orders provide a thorough discussion of the facts and issues in this case, and here a briefer summary will suffice. This case arises out of Clorox’s purchase of First Brands Company. Following the acquisition, Clorox experienced difficulty integrating First Brands. The difficulty resulted in large part from several of First Brands’ business practices. In particular, First Brands often would accompany…