APN Apeiron Capital Investment Corp

Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP ("Lerach Coughlin") (http://www.lerachlaw.com/cases/applica/) today announced that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on behalf of purchasers of Applica Incorporated ("Applica" or the "Company") (NYSE:APN) common stock during the period between November 4, 2004 and April 28, 2005 (the "Class Period"). If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or David A. Rosenfeld of Lerach Coughlin at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058 or via e-mail at wsl@lerachlaw.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.lerachlaw.com/cases/applica/. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. The complaint charges Applica and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Applica engages in the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of small household appliances. The Company markets and distributes kitchen products, home products, pest control products, pet care products, and personal care products. The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements highlighting the Company's ability to transform its business and become more profitable. As alleged in the Complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (a) that the Company was experiencing decreasing demand for its products. In particular, demand for two key products, Tide(TM) Buzz(TM) Ultrasonic Stain Remover and Home Cafe(TM) single cup coffee maker, were not meeting internal expectations; (b) that Applica was materially overstating its net worth by failing to timely write down the value of its inventory which had become obsolete and unsaleable; (c) that Applica was experiencing higher product warranty returns, which it had not appropriately reserved for; (d) that Applica's financial statements issued during the Class Period were not prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") and therefore were materially false and misleading; and (e) as a result of the foregoing, there was no reasonable basis for the Company's revenue and earnings guidance. The Complaint further alleges that, on April 20, 2005, Defendants revealed that the Company would not come near achieving the guidance they had previously sponsored and/or endorsed, that the Company's business was suffering from numerous adverse factors and that the Company was marking down inventory and experiencing increased warranty expenses. Then, on April 28, 2005, Defendants further detailed the impact of these adverse factors on Applica's business. These belated disclosures had an immediate, adverse impact on the price of Applica shares. Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Applica common stock during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Lerach Coughlin, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud. Lerach Coughlin, a 160-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Houston, Philadelphia and Seattle, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. Lerach Coughlin lawyers have been responsible for more than $20 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Lerach Coughlin Web site (http://www.lerachlaw.com) has more information about the firm.