S.Africa's Sasol agrees $24 mln settlement in U.S class action suit

Sasol

01/09/2022 10:24

Sept 1 (Reuters) - South African petrochemical firm Sasol
Ltd  SOLJ.J  on Thursday confirmed it has agreed to pay $24
million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by U.S
investors claiming it deliberately understated the cost of its
Louisiana chemical plant project. 
    The lawsuit was brought by holders of Sasol securities who
claimed the company had misled them by failing to disclose the
true cost and schedule of its Lake Charles chemical plant,
according to a statement posted on the website of U.S. law firm
Hagens Berman which is representing the investors.
    In October 2019, Sasol's joint chief executives, Bongani
Nqwababa and Stephen Cornell, left their positions as the
company moved to repair the damage caused by the poor execution
of the Lake Charles chemical project.
    Costs of it rose from an initial $8.9 billion in 2014 to as
much as $12.9 billion five years later.
    A Sasol spokesperson confirmed the settlement to Reuters.
    "Hagens Berman is pleased to announce a settlement with
defendants totalling $24 million," the U.S attorneys said. 
    A U.S district court gave a final order confirming the
settlement on Aug. 19, according to the court documents,
bringing a two-year legal battle to a close.
    Attorneys for the investors argued the value of Sasol
securities had plummeted when the cost of the Lake Charles
Chemical Complex project was significantly increased, costing
investors hundreds of millions of dollars.
    In their claim, the investors said Sasol's leadership at the
time had on several occasions deliberately underreported the
project's cost to investors and the public, "in an effort to
artificially prop up Sasol's securities prices and trigger
lucrative executive bonus packages".  

 (Reporting by Nelson Banya; editing by Jason Neely)
 ((Nelson.Banya@thomsonreuters.com;))