Yalla Group Limited (“Yalla” or the “Company”) (NYSE: YALA), the leading voice-centric social networking and entertainment platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), today announced that the lead plaintiffs in a securities class action lawsuit against the Company and its CEO voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit on January 12, 2022, which marks a successful and final conclusion of the lawsuit for the Company.
The lawsuit arose from certain short-seller reports issued in May 2021 that contained numerous errors as well as distorted, misleading and unsubstantiated claims regarding the Company. While the Company publicly refuted the claims in the short-seller reports, a putative securities class action lawsuit was filed against the Company and its CEO in the United States based on the claims in the short-seller reports, claiming that the Company had violated U.S. securities laws. The U.S. court presiding over this lawsuit ordered the lead plaintiffs and their attorneys to file an amended complaint by January 7, 2022. After several months of preparation, the lead plaintiffs and their attorneys failed to file an amended complaint by the deadline set by the court. Instead, the lead plaintiffs and their attorneys elected not to further pursue this lawsuit and voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit on January 12, 2022, agreeing to bear their own litigation costs. Lead plaintiffs are barred from refiling the same claims. The voluntary dismissal equally applies to all claims asserted against the Company’s CEO, who was named a co-defendant in the lawsuit. The court approved the lead plaintiffs’ voluntary dismissal on January 13, 2022 and the lawsuit is terminated.
Throughout the process, the Company maintained that the lawsuit had no factual basis. The Company believes the decision of the lead plaintiffs and their attorneys to voluntarily dismiss all of their claims after several months of preparation supports the Company’s position that claims in the short-seller reports are groundless.
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