GlobeNewswire Inc | Jul 19, 2020 11:51AM EDT

July 19, 2020

NEW YORK, July 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Colony Capital, Inc. (Colony or the Company) (NYSE: CLNY) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California, and docketed under 20-cv-04673, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Colony securities between August 9, 2019, and May 7, 2020, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Colony securities during the class period, you have until July 27, 2020 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 newaction@pomlaw.com 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]

Colony is a leading global investment management firm with assets under management of $55 billion. The Company manages capital on behalf of its stockholders, as well as institutional and retail investors in private funds, and traded and non-traded real estate investment trusts.

On August 9, 2019, Colony announced that it would sell its multi-billion-dollar industrial portfolio and, potentially, its related management platform.

On September 30, 2019, Colony announced that Blackstone would acquire Colony Industrial, the industrial real estate assets and affiliated industrial operating platform of the Company, for $5.9 billion.

On November 7, 2019, Colony Credit Real Estate announced that third party valuation experts assisted the [c]ompany in a robust strategic reassessment of [its] entire asset base, that, [d]uring this process [the company] identified and separated a Legacy, Non-Strategic Portfolio and made meaningful changes to the original business plans, and that [g]oing forward, [the company] plan[s] to report the operations and dispositions from [its] Core Portfolio and the Legacy, Non-Strategic Portfolio separately.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Colonys sale of its industrial real estate portfolio and the bifurcation of Colony Credit Real Estates portfolio were foreseeably likely to negatively impact Colonys financial and operating results; (ii) certain of Colonys remaining portfolio companies carried unsustainable levels of debt secured by hotels and healthcare-related properties and were thus at significant risk of default; and (iii) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On November 8, 2019, Colony announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2019. Among other results, the Company reported a GAAP net loss of $555 million, or $1.15 per share, which notably included reductions of goodwill, real estate and provision for loan losses totaling $540.3 million . . . of which $387.0 million was attributable to the reduction of goodwill primarily as a result of the pending sale of the Companys industrial investment management business and related real estate portfolio, and the decrease in management fees from Colony Credit Real Estate, Inc. resulting from impairments related to its portfolio bifurcation.

On this news, Colonys stock price fell $0.48 per share, or 8.76%, to close at $5.00 per share on November 8, 2019.

Then, on May 8, 2020, Colony issued a press release announcing its financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2020. In the press release, Colony reported that its portfolio companies had defaulted on $3.2 billion of debt secured by hotels and healthcare-related properties and that Colony had received a notice of acceleration covering $780 million of the defaulted debt.

On this news, Colonys stock price fell $0.08 per share, or 3.81%, to close at $2.02 per share on May 8, 2020.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris 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, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm 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.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:Robert S. WilloughbyPomerantz LLPrswilloughby@pomlaw.com