Maurice Blackburn

Maurice Blackburn OZ Minerals class action settles

Leading shareholder class action firm Maurice Blackburn has today reached an agreement with mining company OZ Minerals to seek court approval to settle a class action against the company for $35.9 million plus costs.

Maurice Blackburn filed the shareholder claim in the Federal Court of Australia on 7 October 2009 with funding from IMF (Australia) Limited. The claim sought compensation for more than 1,600 shareholders for losses claimed to have been caused by OZ Minerals' alleged failure to disclose material information about its exposure to short-term debt in 2008, in breach of its continuous disclosure obligations.

Ben Slade, Maurice Blackburn principal said: "The settlement is subject to court approval and the details are, for the moment, confidential. The settlement has been reached without admissions from any party."

"When shareholders claim compensation for losses caused by a company's alleged failure to comply with its disclosure obligations, they perform an important role in Australia's corporate governance regime," said Mr Slade.

Maurice Blackburn's costs were and $3.1m. Law firm, Slater & Gordon, which was also running a similar shareholder class action against OZ Minerals has agreed to seek court approval for a settlement of its clients' claim against OZ Minerals for $19.2 million and $1.8 million costs.

Maurice Blackburn's other class actions

Maurice Blackburn's class actions practice is the largest in Australia and has secured more than $700 million in settlements for shareholders, businesses and consumers over the past 13 years.

In 2010 Maurice Blackburn settled two major shareholder class actions against AWB and Multiplex. Maurice Blackburn is the only class action law firm to have achieved settlements over $100m including against Aristocrat ($145m), GIO ($112m) and Multiplex ($110m). The firm is currently acting in a series of other shareholder class actions including claims against NAB, Nufarm and Centro. Class actions for victims of faulty products and price fixing cartels are also being conducted by Maurice Blackburn. In March 2011 the firm settled a massive cartel claim against Amcor and Visy for $120m - the largest cartel settlement in Australian corporate history. It is also conducting a series of class actions against banks over bank fees.

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