Huge settlement a poker in the eye for Aristocrat

POKER machine maker Aristocrat Leisure is believed to have agreed to pay between $150 million and $170 million to settle a landmark class action brought by shareholders, who argued the company six years ago failed to keep the market fully informed.

The payout, which will be confidential until it is revealed to the Federal Court next month, will be the largest by an Australian company to its investors.

The settlement came after the market closed yesterday, and at the eleventh hour of the case, as Federal Court judge Margaret Stone was nearing a decision in the long-running and bitterly fought legal action.

If it is approved by Justice Stone at a hearing in about six weeks, it is believed the payout will largely be funded by Aristocrat's insurers.

Although the company has never revealed whether it had insurance cover for the case, Aristocrat yesterday said it would cost the company a net $40 million after tax, not including a hefty legal bill.

It added that this would be funded through cash and credit facilities.

In the early stages of the case, Aristocrat played down the potential damages bill, saying it could be as little as between $10 million and $20 million, but this figure blew out after an expert gave evidence at the trial.

But the payout is less than the $190 million that the law firm acting for the Aristocrat shareholders, Maurice Blackburn, said last year it could cost the company, and less than the $200 million Deutsche Bank analyst Mark Wilson had predicted.

The worst-case scenario for Aristocrat would have been if it was ordered to pay up to $396 million.

Eligible shareholders bought shares between February 2002 and May the following year, when Aristocrat admitted it had overstated profit and profit expectations.

The figures were inflated after the company hastily booked sales of machines to South American customers, before it had been paid.

When the money failed to materialise and profit forecasts were downgraded, the shares plunged almost 75%.

IMF, a listed litigation funder that funded the cost of the lawsuit since it was launched in March 2004, is believed to have spent about $7 million on legal fees.

It told the market yesterday it would make $22 million profit on the settlement, from $37 million revenue.

Maurice Blackburn partner Bernard Murphy and Aristocrat yesterday would not comment on the settlement.

The Age

News Added: 20 May, 2008

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