Court to Notify Parmalat Investors of $50 Million Partial Settlement of Class Action Lawsuit

Court to Notify Parmalat Investors of $50 Million Partial Settlement of Class Action Lawsuit

March 22, 2007

    NEW YORK, March 22 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- A
multi-national notification program began today, as ordered
by the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York, to alert investors, brokers,
financial institutions, and other nominees who bought the
common stock and/or bonds of Parmalat Finanziaria S.p.A.
and its subsidiaries and affiliates from January 5, 1999
through and including December 18, 2003 about a USD $50
million partial settlement of a U.S. class action lawsuit
about the prices paid for Parmalat common stock and bonds.

    The lawsuit alleges that Parmalat and numerous other
defendants participated in a fraudulent financial scheme,
resulting in the understatement of Parmalat's debt by
nearly $10 billion and the overstatement of its net assets
by over $16 billion.  Parmalat ultimately filed for
bankruptcy, and the value of its stock and bonds
dramatically declined.

    Several of the defendants have now agreed to settle the
case (Banca Nazionale del Lavoro S.p.A. (BNL), Credit Suisse
Group, Credit Suisse, Credit Suisse International, and
Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited), while the
lawsuit proceeds against Parmalat S.p.A. (the successor to
Parmalat Finanziaria S.p.A.), financial institutions, two
auditing firms, and certain individuals.

    The Court defined "Class members" in the
settlement to include all people and entities who bought
Parmalat common stock and/or bonds from January 5, 1999
through and including December 18, 2003, and were damaged
thereby, regardless of where such people live or where they
purchased their Parmalat securities.

    Notices informing Class members about their legal
rights will be mailed, and are scheduled to appear in
publications reaching readers in the United States, Italy,
and around the world, leading up to a hearing in New York
on 19 July 2007, when the Court will consider whether to
approve the settlement.

    In May 2004, the Court appointed the law firms of
Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C, of
Washington, D.C., Grant & Eisenhofer, P.A., of
Wilmington, DE, and Spector Roseman & Kodroff, P.C., of
Philadelphia, PA, to represent the Class.  These firms have
been litigating this case known as In re Parmalat
Securities Litigation, No. 04 Civ. 0030 (LAK), since that
time, and they negotiated the partial settlement.

    Those affected by this settlement may simply await
further notice about how to ask for a payment, or may now
exclude themselves from the partial settlement, or object
to the terms of the proposed settlement.  The deadline for
exclusions and objections is 19 June 2007.

    The money in the settlement fund will not be
distributed yet.  In part because the litigation is still
proceeding against the remaining defendants, there is no
plan to allocate the money now; thus it is not possible to
determine the amount of Class member payments, or what the
average payment will be on a per share or per bond basis. 
Payments will depend on the number of valid claim forms
that Class members eventually send in, how many shares of
Parmalat stock they bought or how many bonds they bought,
when they bought and sold them, and the prices they paid.

    A neutral Court website has been established at
http://www.ParmalatSettlement.com , where notices and the
Settlement Stipulation may be obtained.  Those affected may
also write to Parmalat Notice Administrator, PO Box 4068,
Portland, OR 97208-4068, USA.


    For more information, please contact:

    Class Counsel: 

     Mark S. Willis, Esq.
     Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C.
     Tel: [phone]

     James Sabella, Esq.
     Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.
     Tel: [phone]

     Robert M. Roseman, Esq. 
     Spector Roseman & Kodroff, P.C.
     Tel: [phone]