UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DANIEL AUDE, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, vs. Plaintiff, KOBE STEEL, LTD., HIROYA KAWASAKI, YOSHINORI ONOE, AKIRA KANEKO, AND NAOTO UMEHARA, Defendants. CASE NO. 1:17-CV-10085-VSB NOTICE OF PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT TO: ALL PERSONS WHO PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED AMERICAN DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS OR ORDINARY SHARES OF KOBE STEEL, LTD. ON THE OPEN MARKET IN THE UNITED STATES FROM MAY 29, 2013 THROUGH MARCH 5, 2018, AND WERE DAMAGED THEREBY, AND ARE NOT EXCLUDED FROM THE SETTLEMENT CLASS AS DESCRIBED BELOW IN SECTION II.B.: PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. IF YOU WISH TO COMMENT IN FAVOR OF THE SETTLEMENT OR OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT, YOU MUST FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN THIS NOTICE. YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE MONEY FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THIS CASE. YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY THIS LAWSUIT. TO RECEIVE MONEY FROM THIS SETTLEMENT, YOU MUST SUBMIT A VALID PROOF OF CLAIM AND RELEASE FORM ( PROOF OF CLAIM POSTMARKED OR RECEIVED BY MARCH 27, 2019. YOU MAY REQUEST TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THE CLASS AND THE SETTLEMENT BY SENDING A WRITTEN REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION THAT MUST BE RECEIVED BY FEBRUARY 1, 2019. IF YOU WISH TO OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT, YOU MUST WRITE TO THE COURT SO THAT IT IS RECEIVED BY FEBRUARY 1, 2019. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS NOTICE ON BEHALF OF A CLASS MEMBER, YOU SHOULD PROVIDE THE NOTICE TO THAT CLASS MEMBER OR THE AUTHORIZED LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THAT CLASS MEMBER. 1
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED AS FOLLOWS: A proposed settlement (the Settlement has been reached between the Settling Parties, as defined below, in this class action pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the Court brought on behalf of all individuals and entities described above (the Settlement Class. The Court has preliminarily approved the Settlement and has conditionally certified the Class for purposes of settlement only. The terms of the Settlement are set forth in a Stipulation of Settlement dated September 21, 2018, which is available at www.kobesteelsecuritieslitigation.com. You have received this Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement (the Notice because brokerage records indicate that you may be a member of the Class. The purpose of this Notice is designed to inform you of your rights, how you can submit a claim and how you can comment in favor of or object to the Settlement. If you are a member of the Settlement Class and the Settlement is finally approved by the Court, the Settlement will be binding on you, unless you exclude yourself, even if you do not submit a Proof of Claim to obtain money from the Settlement and even if you object to the Settlement. The Settlement creates a fund in the amount of $500,000 in cash (the Settlement Fund for the benefit of members of the Settlement Class ( Class Members who purchased or otherwise acquired American Depository Receipts ( ADRs or ordinary shares of Kobe Steel, Ltd. ( Kobe or the Company on the open market in the U.S. from May 29, 2013 through March 5, 2018 (the Settlement Class Period. Your recovery from the Settlement Fund will be calculated according to the Plan of Allocation described in Section II.E. Your recovery will depend on a number of variables, including the number of ADRs or ordinary shares that you purchased during the Settlement Class Period, the timing of any purchases and sales that you made, and the number of claims submitted. Lead Counsel (defined below estimates that the average recovery per damaged Kobe ADR or ordinary share outstanding as of October 6, 2017, under the Settlement is $0.388 per ADR or $0.775 per ordinary share before deduction of fees and expenses. Lead Counsel estimates that approximately 700,000 ADRs were outstanding and tradeable as of October 6, 2017, and are entitled to participate in the Plan of Allocation (defined below, and that 295,000 ordinary shares traded on U.S. exchanges during the Class Period and are entitled to participate in the Plan of Allocation. Each ordinary share is equal in price to two ADRs. If you have any questions regarding the Plan of Allocation or your potential recovery, you may contact Lead Counsel or the claims administrator, A.B. Data, Ltd. ( Claims Administrator, whose contact information is listed below in this Notice. There will be a hearing on the fairness of the Settlement ( Fairness Hearing on February 21, 2019 at 11:00 a.m., in Courtroom 518 of the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, NY 10007. 2
I. BACKGROUND OF THE CASE On December 26, 2017, a complaint initiating a securities class action lawsuit ( Complaint was filed in the Court against Kobe and certain of its current or former officers, under the case number 1:17-cv-10085- VSB (the Action. Kobe is one of Japan s largest steel manufacturers and a major supplier of aluminum and copper products. The Complaint alleged that Kobe and Company officers Hiroya Kawasaki, Yoshinori Onoe, Akira Kaneko and Naoto Umehara (collectively, Defendants violated Sections 10(b and 20(a of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by making materially false and misleading statements and omissions regarding, among other things, the quality of Kobe s products and integrity of its operations, and failing to disclose that Kobe had falsified data on many of the Company s products including its aluminum, copper and steel products; and sold products that failed quality control tests in violation of applicable laws and regulations. As a result of Defendants alleged false and misleading statements, and failure to disclose the material information, Kobe s ADRs and ordinary shares traded at artificially inflated prices. The Action seeks money damages from Defendants. Defendants deny all of the Complaint s allegations, deny that they made any false and misleading statements or otherwise did anything wrong, and deny that anything they did caused damage to lead plaintiff Daniel Aude ( Lead Plaintiff and the Settlement Class. On April 4, 2018, the Court appointed Daniel Aude as Lead Plaintiff and approved Lead Plaintiff s selection of Wolf Popper LLP as lead counsel ( Lead Counsel in the Action. On April 17, 2018, the Court directed that Lead Plaintiff file an amended complaint by June 15, 2018. Lead Plaintiff and Lead Counsel undertook extensive additional investigation, and drafted an amended complaint. Meanwhile, discussions about a potential resolution of the litigation began, which resulted in the deferral of the filing of the amended complaint, and ultimately in the proposed Settlement of this Action, as set forth below. II. TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENT The Stipulation of Settlement sets forth the terms of the Settlement, and provides for the following: A. What is the total size of the Settlement? Kobe will pay (or cause to be paid into an escrow account, pursuant to the Stipulation of Settlement, cash in the amount of $500,000 which will earn interest for the benefit of the Settlement Class. B. Am I included in the Settlement? You are a member of the Settlement Class and are included in the Settlement if (i you purchased or otherwise acquired Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares on the open market in the U.S. from May 29, 2013 through March 5, 2018, and (ii you are NOT in one of the following groups, each of which is excluded from the Class: a. Defendants, members of Defendants immediate families and their legal representatives, heirs, successors or assigns, or current or former officers of Kobe, and any entity in which any Defendant or excluded person has or had a controlling interest. b. All persons who would be otherwise a member of the Settlement Class, but who timely and validly request to be excluded from the Settlement Class. C. What is the legal effect of the Settlement on my rights? If you are a member of the Class, this Settlement will affect your legal rights. If the Court grants final approval of the Settlement, this Action will be dismissed with prejudice and all Class Members will fully release and discharge Defendants and other Released Parties, as defined below, from all claims for relief arising 3
out of or based on Lead Plaintiff s allegations. When a person releases a claim, that person cannot sue the Released Parties for any of the claims covered by the release. To share in the Settlement Fund, you must submit a Proof of Claim. If you submit a valid and timely Proof of Claim, you will receive a payment based upon the distribution formula described below in Section II.E. The Released Parties are Kobe, Kawasaki, Onoe, Kaneko, and Umehara, and any of their current, former, or future parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, joint venturers, officers, directors, principals, shareholders, members, agents (acting in their capacity as agents, employees, attorneys, trustees, insurers, reinsurers, advisors, associates, and/or any other individual or entity in which any Defendant has or had a controlling interest or which is or was related to or affiliated with any Defendant, and the current, former, and future legal representatives, heirs, successors-in-interest, or assigns of any Defendant. If you do not file a Proof of Claim Form, you will get no money from this Settlement and you will be precluded from starting a lawsuit, continuing with a lawsuit, or being part of any other lawsuit against the Defendants and the other Released Parties about the released claims in this case, ever again. D. How can I get a payment? To qualify for a payment, you must submit a valid and timely Proof of Claim. A Claim Form is included with this Notice. You may also obtain a Proof of Claim by downloading it from www.kobesteelsecuritieslitigation.com or calling the Claims Administrator. Read the instructions carefully, fill out the Proof of Claim, include all the documents the form asks for, sign it, and mail it postmarked or otherwise deliver it so that it is received no later than March 27, 2019 to the address provided therein. E. How Will My Payment Be Determined? THE PLAN OF ALLOCATION 1. The Settlement Fund, after deduction of Court-approved attorneys fees and expenses, Notice and Administration Expenses, Taxes, and any other fees or expenses approved by the Court, is the Net Settlement Fund. If the Settlement is approved by the Court, the Net Settlement Fund will be distributed to eligible Authorized Claimants i.e., members of the Class who timely submit valid Proof of Claim that are accepted for payment by the Court in accordance with this proposed Plan of Allocation ( Plan of Allocation or Plan or such other plan of allocation as the Court may approve. Class Members who do not timely submit valid Proof of Claim will not share in the Net Settlement Fund, but will otherwise be bound by the Settlement. The Court may approve this proposed Plan of Allocation, or modify it, without additional notice to the Class. Any order modifying the Plan of Allocation will be posted on the settlement website, www.kobesteelsecuritieslitigation.com. 2. The objective of the Plan of Allocation is to distribute the Settlement proceeds equitably among those Class Members who suffered economic losses as a proximate result of the alleged wrongdoing. The Plan of Allocation is not a formal damage analysis, and the calculations made in accordance with the Plan of Allocation are not intended to be estimates of, or indicative of, the amounts that Class Members might have been able to recover after a trial. Nor are the calculations in accordance with the Plan of Allocation intended to be estimates of the amounts that will be paid to Authorized Claimants under the Settlement. The computations under the Plan of Allocation are only a method to weigh, in a fair and equitable manner, the claims of Authorized Claimants against one another for the purpose of making pro rata allocations of the Net Settlement Fund. 3. In developing the Plan of Allocation, Lead Counsel estimated the artificial inflation in the per share prices of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares that was caused by Defendants alleged false and misleading statements and omissions. In calculating the estimated artificial inflation allegedly caused by those misrepresentations and omissions, Lead Counsel considered price changes in Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares in reaction to the public disclosures that corrected the respective alleged misrepresentations and omissions. 4
4. In order to have recoverable damages, disclosure of the alleged misrepresentations or omissions must be the cause of the decline in the price of the Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares. In this case, Lead Plaintiff alleges that Defendants misrepresentations and omissions during the period from May 29, 2013 through March 5, 2018, had the effect of artificially inflating the prices of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares. Artificial inflation was removed from the price of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares as the result of the alleged corrective disclosures that occurred on October 8-9, 2017, October 10, 2017, October 13, 2017, and March 5, 2018. Accordingly, for purposes of this Plan of Allocation, Lead Counsel has created the following periods: (i May 29, 2013 through October 6, 2017, (ii October 9, 2017, (iii October 10-12, 2017, and (iv October 13, 2017 through March 5, 2018. 1 CALCULATION OF RECOGNIZED LOSS AMOUNT 5. A Recognized Loss Amount will be calculated for purchases or acquisitions of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares during the Class Period that is listed on the Proof of Claim and for which adequate documentation is provided. If a Recognized Loss Amount calculates to a negative number or zero under the formula below, that Recognized Loss Amount will be zero. 6. For each share of Kobe ADRs purchased or otherwise acquired during any of the periods shown below in Table-1, and: (a Purchased during the Class Period and subsequently sold during the Class Period, the Recognized Loss Amount per ADR is the lesser of (i the decline in inflation per share shown in Table-1; or (ii the purchase price per ADR (but in no event greater than $5.92 per ADR; excluding commissions less the sale price per ADR. (b Purchased during the Class Period and retained at the end of March 5, 2018, the Recognized Loss Amount per ADR shall be the lesser of: (i the decline in inflation per share shown in Table-1; (ii the difference between the purchase price per ADR (but in no event greater than $5.92 per ADR; excluding commissions and the actual sale price per ADR if sold on or prior to April 26, 2018, or $4.98 per ADR if held through April 26, 2018 (but in no event less than $4.98 per ADR; excluding commission. 2 TABLE 1 1 Any transactions in Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares executed outside of regular trading hours for the U.S. financial markets shall be deemed to have occurred during the next regular trading session. 2 Under Section 21(D(e(1 of the Exchange Act, in any private action arising under this Act in which the plaintiff seeks to establish damages by reference to the market price of a security, the award of damages to the plaintiff shall not exceed the difference between the purchase or sale price paid or received, as appropriate, by the plaintiff for the subject security and the mean trading price of that security during the 90-day period beginning on the date on which the information correcting the misstatement or omission that is the basis for the action is disseminated to the market. Consistent with the requirements of the statute, Recognized Loss Amounts are reduced by taking into account the average closing prices of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares during the look-back period subsequent to March 5, 2018, through April 26, 2018, when Kobe s ADRs were delisted from trading on the over-the-counter market. 5
Purchase Date Sale Date 5/29/2013-10/6/2017 10/9/2017 10/10/2017-10/12/2017 10/13/2017-3/5/2018 Beyond 3/5/2018 5/29/2013-10/6/2017 $0.00 $0.62 $1.92 $2.32 $2.76 10/9/2017 $0.44 $1.30 $1.70 $2.14 10/10/2017-10/12/2017 $0.40 $0.40 $0.84 10/13/2017-3/5/2018 $0.20 $0.44 Beyond 3/5/2018 7. Each ADR is equal to 0.5 ordinary share. Accordingly, to calculate the Recognized Loss with respect to an ordinary share, all numbers referenced above are required to be multiplied by two. ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS 8. If a Class Member made multiple purchases, acquisitions or sales of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares during or after the Class Period, Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares sold during the Class Period will be matched, in chronological order first against Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares purchased during the same Period, regardless of the order of the transaction. Any excess sales within a Period will be matched against purchases in a subsequent Period. 9. Purchases or acquisitions and sales of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares shall be deemed to have occurred on the contract or trade date as opposed to the settlement or payment date. The receipt or grant by gift, inheritance or operation of law of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares during the Class Period shall not be deemed a purchase, acquisition or sale of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares for the calculation of Recognized Loss, unless (i the donor or decedent purchased or otherwise acquired such shares of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares during the Class Period; (ii no Proof of Claim was submitted by or on behalf of the donor, on behalf of the decedent, or by anyone else with respect to such shares of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares; and (iii it is specifically so provided in the instrument of gift or assignment. 10. An Authorized Claimant s Recognized Loss shall be the amount used to calculate the Authorized Claimant s pro rata share of the Net Settlement Fund. If the sum total of Recognized Loss of all Authorized Claimants who are entitled to receive payment out of the Net Settlement Fund is greater than the Net Settlement Fund, each Authorized Claimant shall receive his, her, or its pro rata share of the Net Settlement Fund. The pro rata share shall be the Authorized Claimant s Recognized Loss divided by the total of the Recognized Loss of all Authorized Claimants, multiplied by the total amount in the Net Settlement Fund (the Distribution Amount. Given the costs of distribution, the Net Settlement Fund will be allocated among all Authorized Claimants whose Distribution Amount is $10.00 or greater. F. Can I decide to opt out of this Settlement? Yes. If you do not want a payment from this Settlement, but you want to keep any right(s you may have to sue or continue to sue the Defendants and the other Released Parties in some other lawsuit as to the released claims in this lawsuit, then you may request to be excluded from the Class by taking the following steps to remove yourself from this lawsuit. To exclude yourself from the Class, you must send a signed letter by mail stating that you request exclusion from the Class in Aude v. Kobe Steel, Ltd., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-10085- VSB. Your letter must state the date(s, price(s, and number of shares of all your purchases and sales of Kobe ADRs or Kobe ordinary shares during the Settlement Class Period and include documentation sufficient to 6
confirm those transactions. In addition, be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, email address, and signature. You must mail or otherwise deliver your exclusion request so as to be received by February 1, 2019 to: Aude v. Kobe Steel, Ltd. et al. EXCLUSIONS c/o A.B. Data, Ltd. P.O. Box 173001 Milwaukee, WI 53217 NO REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION WILL BE CONSIDERED VALID UNLESS ALL OF THE INFORMATION DESCRIBED ABOVE IS INCLUDED IN ANY SUCH REQUEST. If you timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class, (a you will be excluded from the Settlement Class, (b you will not share in the proceeds of the Settlement, (c you will not be bound by any judgment entered in the case, and (d you will not be precluded from otherwise prosecuting an individual claim, if timely, against Defendants or the Released Persons based on the matters alleged in this Action. G. Notification of Shareholders and Legal Representatives If your address is different from the address to which this Notice was directed, or if it changes, you must notify the Claims Administrator for this Settlement of your new address as soon as possible. The appointed Claims Administrator for this Settlement is A.B. Data, Ltd. Any failure to keep the Claims Administrator informed of your current address may result in the loss of any monetary award you may be eligible to receive. If necessary, please send your new contact information to the address listed on the bottom of page 9 and include your old address, new address, new telephone number, date of birth, and the last four numbers of your Social Security number. These last two items are required so that the Claims Administrator can verify that the address change is from the actual Class Member. The authorized legal representative of a Class Member may receive a recovery on behalf of the Class Member. SPECIAL NOTICE TO SECURITIES BROKERS AND OTHER NOMINEES If you purchased ADRs or ordinary shares of Kobe from May 29, 2013 to March 5, 2018, inclusive, for the beneficial interest of a person or organization other than yourself, the Court has directed that WITHIN TEN DAYS OF YOUR RECEIPT OF THIS NOTICE or Postcard Notice, you either (a provide to the Claims Administrator the name and last known address of each person or organization for whom or which you purchased Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares during such time period or (b request additional copies of the Postcard Notice, which will be provided to you free of charge, and within ten days of receipt mail the Postcard Notice directly to the beneficial owners of that Kobe ADR or ordinary share. If you choose to follow alternative procedure (b, you are requested to send a statement to the Claims Administrator confirming that the mailing was made as directed. You are entitled to reimbursement from the Settlement Fund of your reasonable expenses actually incurred in connection with the foregoing, including reimbursement of postage expense and the cost of ascertaining the names and addresses of beneficial owners (but in no event greater than $0.75 per Class Member. Those expenses will be paid upon request and submission of appropriate supporting documentation. All communications concerning the foregoing should be addressed to the Claims Administrator. If you choose to mail the Postcard Notice yourself, you may obtain from the Claims Administrator (without cost to you as many additional copies of these documents as you will need to complete the mailing. H. Compensation for the Lead Plaintiff and Lead Counsel At the Fairness Hearing, Lead Counsel will request the Court to award attorneys fees not greater than twenty-five percent (25% of the Settlement Fund; reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with the prosecution of this action not to exceed $12,500; and reimbursement of time and expense for Lead Plaintiff not 7
to exceed $1,000. The requested fees and expenses would amount to an average of not more than $0.107 per damaged ADR or $0.214 per damaged ordinary share that traded during the Class Period. Class Members are not personally liable for any such fees, expenses, or compensation. To date, Lead Counsel has not received any payment for their services and substantial time in conducting this Action, and has not been reimbursed for their substantial expenses incurred in prosecuting this Action. The fee requested by Lead Counsel will compensate counsel (at a significant discount to their regular hourly rates for their efforts in achieving the Settlement Fund for the benefit of the Class, and for the risk in undertaking this representation on a wholly contingent basis. III. LEAD PLAINTIFF S AND LEAD COUNSEL S SUPPORT OF THE SETTLEMENT The Settling Parties entered into settlement negotiations as the Lead Plaintiff was preparing to file an amended complaint. Following extensive arms-length negotiations, which included discussions of the merits of Lead Plaintiff s claims as well as the maximum damages that could be achieved from continued Litigation assuming Lead Plaintiff was completely successful in proving all his claims, and given, among other things, the number of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares traded in the U.S. during the Settlement Class Period, the Settling Parties reached an agreement on a proposed settlement of $500,000 in cash. Lead Plaintiff and Lead Counsel have determined that settlement of the Action is fair, reasonable and adequate and is in the best interests of members of the Class to the Settlement Class considering the risks and uncertainties of continued litigation. For Lead Plaintiff, the principal reason for the Settlement is the benefit to be provided to the Settlement Class now. This benefit must be compared to the risk that no recovery might be achieved if the Court were to rule in favor of Defendants on a motion to dismiss, summary judgment, or after a contested trial and likely appeals, possibly years into the future. Lead Plaintiff further considered, after conducting a substantial investigation into the facts of this case, the risks to proving loss causation and damages. Additionally, a key factor for Lead Plaintiff s primary justification in entering into the Settlement is the relatively small number of Kobe ADRs and ordinary shares that traded during the Settlement Class Period and the consequently small maximum total recovery that the Settlement Class would achieve even if it were entirely successful in proving all its claims. The Kobe ADRs that traded in the U.S. were sponsored through BNY Mellon. From August 2016, through the end of Settlement Class Period (March 5, 2018, only approximately 700,000 Kobe ADRs were outstanding and available to trade. During the Settlement Class Period there was similarly only limited trading in Kobe ordinary shares in the U.S. markets. Lead Counsel anticipates that this Settlement will enable the Class to recover a significant percentage of the alleged damages as calculated by Lead Counsel without incurring the additional risk of continued litigation. IV. OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT If you are a Class Member, you can tell the Court that you agree or do not agree with the Settlement or some part of it. You can object to the Settlement or any of its terms, the proposed Plan of Allocation, the application by Lead Counsel for an award of fees and expenses, and/or the application for a payment to Lead Plaintiff. If you wish to submit a written objection to the Settlement, you must send a signed letter stating that you object to the proposed settlement in Aude v. Kobe Steel, Ltd. et al., Case No. 17-cv-10085-VSB. Your objection must include a cover page identifying this case name and number and naming the hearing date of February 21, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. at 40 Foley Square, Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, Courtroom 518, New York, NY 10007. Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, and signature; identify the date(s, price(s, and number of shares of all purchases and sales of Kobe ADRs or ordinary shares you made during the Settlement Class Period, include documentation sufficient to confirm those transactions, and state the reasons 8
why you object to the Settlement. Your objection must be filed with the Clerk of the Court, 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York 10007 and received by the Claims Administrator by February 1, 2019. You do not need to go to the Fairness Hearing to have your written objection considered by the Court. At the Fairness Hearing, any Class Member who has not previously submitted a request for exclusion from the Class may appear and be heard, to the extent allowed by the Court, to state any objection to the Settlement, the Plan of Allocation, or Lead Counsel s motion for an award of attorneys fees and reimbursement of expenses. Any such objector may appear in person or arrange, at that objector s expense, for a lawyer to represent the objector at the Fairness Hearing. If you or your representative intend to appear in person but have not submitted a written objection by February 1, 2019, you should give advance notice to Lead Counsel for the Class of your intention to attend the hearing in order to object and the basis for your objection. You may contact them at the address provided below. V. FAIRNESS HEARING The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing at 11:00 a.m. February 21, 2019, at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, Courtroom 518, 40 Foley Square, New York, NY 10007. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. At the Fairness Hearing, the Court also will consider the proposed Plan of Allocation of the proceeds of the Settlement; and the application of Lead Counsel for attorneys fees, reimbursement of expenses and an award to the Lead Plaintiff. The Court will take into consideration any written objections. You are not obligated to attend this hearing. You should be aware that the Court may change the date and time of the Fairness Hearing. Thus, if you intend to come to the Fairness Hearing, you should contact Lead Counsel before coming to confirm that the date and/or time has not changed. VI. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This Notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. More details are contained in a Stipulation of Settlement executed by the Settling Parties (Lead Plaintiff and Kobe. You can obtain a copy of the Stipulation on the Settlement website, from the Court, or by writing to Lead Counsel at Robert C. Finkel, Esq., Wolf Popper LLP, 845 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022. You also can call the Claims Administrator toll-free at 1-800-513-1506; write to the Claims Administrator; or visit the Settlement website at www.kobesteelsecuritieslitigation.com, where you will find a Proof of Claim, answers to frequently asked questions about the Settlement, and other information to help you determine whether you are a Class Member and whether you are eligible for a payment. For more detailed information concerning the matters involved in this Action, you can also inspect the pleadings, the Stipulation, the Orders entered by the Court, and the other papers filed in the Action at the office of the Clerk of the Court, 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York 10007. You may also contact Lead Counsel. DATED: December 6, 2018 BY THE ORDER OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK AUDE v. KOBE STEEL, LTD. et al. CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR c/o A.B. DATA, LTD. PO BOX 173058 MILWAUKEE, WI 53217 9