NEW YORK, March 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against ESS Tech Inc. (“ESS” or the “Company”) (: GWH) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, and docketed under 23-cv-00234, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded ESS securities between August 11, 2022 and December 7, 2022, inclusive (the “Class Period”). Plaintiff seeks to recover compensable damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”).
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired ESS securities during the Class Period, you have until March 13, 2023 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
ESS provides energy storage systems. The Company designs, builds, and deploys iron flow batteries for long-duration commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications requiring from four to twelve hours of flexible energy capacity. ESS serves customers worldwide.
In August 2022, ESS issued a press release announcing that it had entered into a “Strategic Partnership to Deploy Long-Duration Energy Storage in Australia and Deliver an Expected 12 GWh of Iron Flow Batteries” with Energy Storage Industries Asia Pacific (“ESI”). ESS stated, among other things: “Under the terms of the agreement, ESS will initially supply 70 complete 75kW / 500kWh Energy Warehouse (EW) systems to ESI in 2022 and 2023. Concurrently, ESI will construct a manufacturing facility in Queensland, Australia, equipped to conduct final assembly of ESS systems from 2024 onward. Systems manufactured at the Queensland facility will utilize ‘core component kits’ supplied by ESS including battery modules, proton pumps, and other unique components.”
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and prospects, which were known to Defendants or recklessly disregarded by them. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the purported agreement with ESI was in fact an undisclosed related party transaction because ESI was a de-facto subsidiary of ESS masquerading as a third-party client; (ii) ESS misled investors with their partnership announcement to signal business success to investors; and (iii) as a result, Defendants’ statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
On December 7, 2022, Grizzly Research issued a report alleging that ESS’s purported partner, ESI, is not actually a third party but an entity completely reliant on ESS without a real office, staff, or current business of its own. The report alleged that ESS concealed its relationship with ESI before announcing their partnership, hid the fact that ESI is a de-facto subsidiary of ESS masking as a third-party client, and misled investors with their partnership announcement to signal business success to investors.
On this news, the price of ESS’s stock fell 7.7% to close at $2.64 per share on December 7, 2022, damaging investors.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
888-476-6529 ext. 7980
