031030 Class-Action Against Tyson OKed

A federal judge says people who sold shares in IBP Incorporated when Tyson Foods aborted its purchase of the meat-packing company may file a class-action lawsuit against Tyson.

The IBP shareholders claim Tyson made false statements that unnaturally drove down the stock.

A judge in Delaware issued the ruling that stockholders who sold stock between March 29th and June 15th of 2001 can file suit together.

Springdale-based Tyson became the world's largest meat producer when a chancery court ruled in June 2001 that it had to go forward with the purchase of IBP. Tyson tried to call off the deal in March, saying IBP failed to disclose a federal accounting probe involving the meatpacker's Chicago-based canape and appetizer subsidiary.

But IBP, based in South Dakota, went to court to compel Tyson to complete the $4.7 billion purchase and it came out in the testimony of Tyson Chairman John Tyson that executives knew about the problem when they decided to buy IBP.

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