Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action Suit against Ascena Retail Group, Inc.

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/ascenaretail/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of purchasers of Ascena Retail Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASNA) common stock during the period between September 16, 2015 and June 8, 2017 (the “Class Period”). This action was filed in the District of New Jersey and is captioned Newman v. Ascena Retail Group, Inc., No. 19-cv-13529.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased Ascena common stock during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice. An investor’s ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or David A. Rosenfeld of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. You can view a copy of the complaint as filed at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/ascenaretail/.

The complaint charges Ascena and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Ascena is a leading national specialty retailer of apparel for women and tween girls. In August 2015, Ascena completed the acquisition of Ann Inc. (“Ann”), the parent company of Ann Taylor and LOFT (the “Ann Acquisition”).

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants made materially misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding Ascena’s business and operations. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose that the Ann Acquisition was a complete disaster for the Company as Ann’s operations were in far worse condition than had been represented to the public; that, in order to mask the true condition of Ann, defendants improperly delayed recognizing an impairment charge to the value of Ann’s goodwill and, as a result, Ascena’s reported income and assets were materially overstated and the Company’s financial results were not prepared in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”); and that many of the brands acquired in the Ann Acquisition were in steep decline and were also materially overvalued on Ascena’s Class Period financial statements. As a result of this information being withheld from the market, the price of Ascena common stock was artificially inflated to more than $14 per share during the Class Period.

On May 17, 2017, Ascena announced that it was revising its third quarter and full year 2017 sales and earnings outlook, due to “a period of unprecedented secular change that is disruptive to traditional business models,” and that the Company would be taking an impairment charge. On this news, the price of Ascena stock dropped from $2.82 per share to $2.06 per share, a decline of 26%. Then on June 8, 2017, Ascena announced its third quarter 2017 financial results, reporting a GAAP loss of $5.29 per diluted share compared to net earnings of $.08 per diluted share in the year-ago period. The loss included a non-cash pre-tax impairment charge of $1.324 billion (after tax impact of $5.22 per diluted share) to write down a portion of the Company’s goodwill and other intangible assets.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Ascena common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud.

Robbins Geller is a national law firm representing investors in securities litigation. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history. For five consecutive years, ISS Securities Class Action Services has ranked the Firm in its annual SCAS Top 50 Report as one of the top law firms in both the amount recovered for shareholders and the total number of class action settlements. Robbins Geller attorneys have helped shape the securities laws and recovered tens of billions of dollars on behalf of aggrieved victims. Beyond securing financial recoveries for defrauded investors, Robbins Geller also advocates for corporate governance reforms, helping to improve the financial markets for investors worldwide. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.

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