Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announce Pendency and Proposed Settlement of In re Penn West Petroleum Ltd. Securities Litigation, Master File No. 14-cv-6046-JGK (S.D.N.Y.)

NEW YORK, April 12, 2016 /CNW/ --

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

IN RE PENN WEST PETROLEUM LTD. SECURITIES LITIGATION

Master File No. 14-cv-6046-JGK

SUMMARY NOTICE OF (I) PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION AND PROPOSED
SETTLEMENT; (II) SETTLEMENT FAIRNESS HEARING; AND
(III) MOTION FOR AN AWARD OF ATTORNEYS' FEES
AND REIMBURSEMENT OF LITIGATION EXPENSES

TO:   All persons or entities who or which (i) purchased or otherwise acquired Penn West Petroleum Ltd. ("Penn West") common stock or trust units on an open market located within the United States, including but not limited to the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") or another domestic exchange, or (ii) purchased or otherwise acquired Penn West call options, or sold or wrote Penn West put options, on an open market located within the United States, including but not limited to the NYSE or another domestic exchange, from February 18, 2010 through July 29, 2014, inclusive (the "Settlement Class Period"), and who were damaged thereby (the "Settlement Class"):

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PENDING IN THIS COURT, AND YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO SHARE IN THE SETTLEMENT.  YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS SETTLEMENT REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE DOMICILED IN THE UNITED STATES OR ARE A UNITED STATES CITIZEN OR RESIDENT. 

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, that the above-captioned litigation (the "Action") has been certified as a class action for Settlement purposes only on behalf of the Settlement Class, except for certain persons and entities who are excluded from the Settlement Class by definition as set forth in the full printed Notice of (I) Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement; (II) Settlement Fairness Hearing; and (III) Motion for an Award of Attorneys' Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses (the "Notice").

YOU ARE ALSO NOTIFIED that Lead Plaintiffs in the Action have reached a proposed settlement of the Action for Can$26,500,000 in cash (the "Settlement"), which equated to US$19,759,282 on the day it was deposited into an escrow account.  If the Settlement is approved, it will resolve all claims in the Action.

A hearing will be held on July 19, 2016 at 4:30 p.m., before the Honorable John G. Koeltl in Courtroom 12B of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl St., New York, NY 10007-1312, to determine (i) whether the proposed Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (ii) whether the Action should be dismissed with prejudice against Defendants, and the Releases specified and described in the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement dated February 12, 2016 ("Stipulation") and in the Notice should be granted; (iii) whether the proposed Plan of Allocation should be approved as fair and reasonable; and (iv) whether Co-Lead Counsel's application for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses should be approved.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class, your rights will be affected by the pending Action and the Settlement, and you may be entitled to share in the Settlement Fund.  If you have not yet received the Notice, which more completely describes the Settlement and your rights thereunder, and Claim Form, you may obtain copies of these documents, as well as a copy of the Stipulation (which, among other things, contains definitions for the defined terms used in this Summary Notice) by contacting the Claims Administrator at Penn West U.S. Securities Litigation, c/o Epiq, P.O. Box 3967, Portland, OR 97208-3967, [phone], or [email protected].  Copies of the Notice, Claim Form and Stipulation can also be downloaded from the website maintained by the Claims Administrator, www.PennWestUSSecuritiesLitigation.com.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class, in order to be eligible to receive a payment under the proposed Settlement, you must submit a Claim Form postmarked no later than August 26, 2016.  If you are a Settlement Class Member and do not submit a proper Claim Form, you will not be eligible to share in the distribution of the net proceeds of the Settlement but you will nevertheless be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class and wish to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you must submit a request for exclusion such that it is received no later than June 20, 2016, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice.  If you properly exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you will not be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action and you will not be eligible to share in the proceeds of the Settlement. 

Any objections to the proposed Settlement, the proposed Plan of Allocation, or Co-Lead Counsel's motion for attorneys' fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses, must be filed with the Court and delivered to Co-Lead Counsel and representative Defendants' Counsel such that they are received no later than June 20, 2016, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice.

Please do not contact the Court, the Clerk's office, Penn West, any other Defendant, or their counsel, regarding this notice.  All questions about this notice, the proposed Settlement, or your eligibility to participate in the Settlement should be directed to the Claims Administrator or Co-Lead Counsel.

Requests for the Notice and Claim Form should be made to:

Penn West U.S. Securities Litigation
c/o Epiq
P.O. Box 3967
Portland, OR 97208-3967
[phone]
[email protected]
www.PennWestUSSecuritiesLitigation.com

Inquiries, other than requests for the Notice and Claim Form, should be made to Co-Lead Counsel:

BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & GROSSMANN LLP
John Rizio-Hamilton, Esq.
1251 Avenue of the Americas, 44th Floor
New York, NY 10020
[phone]

or

GLANCY PRONGAY & MURRAY LLP
Peter A. Binkow, Esq.
1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100
Los Angeles, CA 90067
[phone]

Please note that there is a separate settlement for persons who acquired the securities of Penn West on the Toronto Stock Exchange, on an alternative trading market in Canada, or otherwise in Canada from March 17, 2011 through July 29, 2014, inclusive, and/or July 30, 2014 through September 18, 2014, inclusive, and held some or all of those securities at the close of trading on July 29, 2014 or September 18, 2014 (the "Canadian Class").  This notice only discusses the rights and options of members of the Settlement Class (defined above).  If you are a member of the Canadian Class, you can learn more about your rights and options at the website dedicated to the Canadian cases: www.PennWestCanadianClassAction.com.

By Order of the Court

SOURCE Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP