E-mail service provider Crayfish Co. said Saturday that it and other defendants will pay $9 million to a group of U.S. investors to settle out of court a damages suit filed in 2000 over alleged shortcomings in Crayfish's disclosure.
Crayfish said the payment is to prevent the lawsuit from dragging on and causing additional legal costs. It emphasized this does not mean it admits to the allegations.
The U.S. investors filed the class-action suit in September 2000 with the federal district court in New York, seeking compensation for losses they incurred by purchasing Crayfish stock.
They claimed Crayfish failed to disclose important facts pertaining to the deterioration of business at its parent firm, Hikari Tsushin Inc., when listing its shares on the U.S. Nasdaq stock market in March 2000.
The defendants in the suit include Hikari Tsushin and Nomura Securities Co.'s U.S. unit.