WICHITA, Kan., June 25, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon, Inc. (Nasdaq:STAR) today announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas ruled that Guy Adams violated federal securities laws by making false and misleading statements in his proxy materials to solicit votes for election to the Lone Star Board of Directors. Accordingly, the Court issued an injunction requiring Guy Adams to make corrective disclosure.
Lone Star's independent directors issued the following statement regarding the Court's decision:
"We are very pleased that the Federal Court moved to protect Lone Star's stockholders by ordering Guy Adams to correct his false and misleading statements. This finding vindicates our decision to seek legal recourse against Guy Adams for attempting to mislead our stockholders through the use of false statements and illegal proxy activities and impugn the integrity of our board.
"Lone Star's Board of Directors and management team, under the leadership of Jamie Coulter, are creating value for our stockholders, evidenced by the 49.4 percent increase in our stock price through June 22, 2001, our solid 2001 first quarter results, and our strong balance sheet. We urge our stockholders to continue to protect their investment in Lone Star by supporting Jamie Coulter's candidacy for re-election to the Lone Star Board of Directors."
Lone Star also noted that while the Court did not grant an injunction against Guy Adams for failure to disclose that persons other than himself are supporting the cost of the solicitation and proxy contest, the Court, at the preliminary injunction hearing, said that "the plaintiff has certainly pointed out some facts which could be construed, if we were just dealing with a probable cause kind of standard, that could lead one to believe that there are other participants who have not been disclosed." The Court further stated, "I'll tell you that I have some real concerns that there's something going on that we don't know about with respect to persons supporting Mr. Adams..."
Lone Star's Board of Directors unanimously urges its stockholders to reject Guy Adams' proxy request and to vote their shares by signing, dating and returning their WHITE proxy cards. For more information about how to vote for the Lone Star director nominee, stockholders can call Lone Star's proxy solicitor, Innisfree M&A Incorporated, at (877) 750-5838 (toll-free).
Lone Star owns and operates Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon restaurants, Sullivan's Steakhouse restaurants, and Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House restaurants.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Although the Company believes the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein, including the development plans of the Company, are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements contained in the press release will prove to be accurate.