Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Camber Energy, Inc. and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, and docketed under 21-cv-03574, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise, acquired Camber securities between February 18, 2021 and October 4, 2021, 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 Camber securities during the Class Period, you have until December 28, 2021 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.
Camber is an independent oil and natural gas company that acquires, develops, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The Company’s common stock trades on the NYSE American (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “CEI”.
In December 2020, Camber acquired a controlling interest in Viking Energy Group, Inc. (“Viking”), a purported independent exploration and production company. Then, in February 2021, Camber executed a definitive merger agreement with Viking to effect the full combination of the two entities (the “Merger”).
Throughout 2021, Camber has failed to timely file required financial statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). As a result, financial reporting services such as Yahoo! Finance and Bloomberg were forced to rely on infrequent and outdated updates in SEC filings to estimate the Company’s shares of common stock issued and outstanding. For example, before a recent update by the Company on October 6, 2021, the widely-reported estimate of the Company’s shares of common stock issued and outstanding amounted to 104.2 million, which itself was based on a filing the Company made with the SEC on July 12, 2021. When the Company provided an update on October 6, 2021, it reported 249.6 million shares of stock issued and outstanding, a significantly higher figure.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Camber overstated the financial and business prospects of Viking as well as the combined company post-Merger; (ii) Camber failed to apprise investors of, and/or downplayed, the fact that its acquisition of a controlling interest in Viking would exacerbate the Company’s delinquent financial statements and listing obligations with the NYSE; (iii) an institutional investor was diluting Camber’s shares at a significant rate following the Company’s July 12, 2021 update regarding the number of its shares of common stock issued and outstanding; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On May 24, 2021, Viking filed a quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the SEC, reporting the Company’s financial and operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. That quarterly report disclosed, among other results, first-quarter earnings per share (“EPS”) of –$0.13 under generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), compared to GAAP EPS of $1.39 in the same quarter the year prior, representing a 109.35% decrease year-over-year (“Y/Y”), and first-quarter revenue of $10.49 million, compared to revenue of $11.79 million in the same quarter the year prior, representing an 11% decrease Y/Y.
Later that day, Camber issued a press release disclosing that, on May 21, 2021, the NYSE had notified the Company that it was not in compliance with the NYSE’s continued listing standards because of, inter alia, “issues that have arisen in connection with . . . finalizing the determination of the fair values of both assets and liabilities associated with the Company’s acquisition of a controlling interest in Viking . . . in December of 2020[.]”
Following Viking’s reported first-quarter 2021 results, Camber’s stock price fell $0.02 per share, or 3.17%, to close at $0.61 per share on May 24, 2021. Camber’s stock price continued to decline by an additional $0.04 per share, or 6.56%, to close at $0.57 per share the following day as the market continued to digest Viking’s first quarter 2021 results, as well as Camber’s non-compliance notice from the NYSE.
Then, on August 16, 2021, Viking filed a quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the SEC, reporting its financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. That quarterly report disclosed, among other results, a net loss of $9.85 million for the quarter, and that, “[a]s of June 30, 2021, [Viking] has a stockholders’ deficit of $15,054,324 and total long-term debt of $95,961,611.”
On this news, Camber’s stock price fell $0.03 per share, or 6.98%, to close at $0.57 per share on May 25, 2021.
Finally, on October 5, 2021, Kerrisdale Capital released a report alleging, among other issues revealed in earlier disclosures, that the “market is badly mistaken about Camber’s share count and ignorant of [Camber’s] terrifying capital structure,” estimating the Company’s “fully diluted share count is roughly triple the widely reported number.”
On this news, Camber’s stock price fell $1.56 per share, or 50.49%, to close at $1.53 per share on October 5, 2021.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, 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, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz 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.pomlaw.com.
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
888-476-6529 ext. 7980