Ridley Surprised by Inclusion in Lawsuits

WINNIPEG - Apr 14/05 - SNS -- Ridley Inc. expressed some surprise at being included in a class action lawsuit initiated by farmers in several Canadian provinces claiming damages allegedly suffered due to the closing of the U.S. border to Canadian cattle exports in May, 2003 after the discovery of a BSE infected cow in Alberta, Canada.

The suit also names the Solicitor General of Canada and the Ministry of Agriculture Canada. Ridley Inc. says it has now obtained copies of the statements of claims that have been filed in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Ontario has been proposed as the jurisdiction for any potential claimants residing in the remaining Canadian provinces.

Ridley Inc. has not yet formally been served with all of the statements of claim but a review of the court filings indicates that the allegations against Ridley Inc. are substantially similar. As previously reported by Ridley Inc., the allegations are that it should have unilaterally discontinued using ruminant meat and bone meal in its cattle feed even prior to the enactment of uniform U.S. and Canadian regulations banning their use in August 1997.

In the more recent filings it is alleged that Ridley Inc. was the supplier of feed to the affected Alberta cow early in its life before the 1997 ban was in effect. Nothing in any of the four filings directly connects Ridley Inc. to any of the complainants.

According to newspaper articles and media releases issued earlier this week which were attributed to the Ontario plaintiff's counsel, the filings in the four provinces appear to be a co-ordinated effort by 4 or 5 plaintiffs to encourage others to join them in class action law suits to seek compensation from the Federal Government in connection with the U.S./Canada border closure to Canadian beef. "Unfortunately, Ridley Inc. has been included in these actions without any justification insofar as we are aware," said Ridley Inc. President and CEO, Steven VanRoekel.

At the conclusion of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's May, 2003 BSE investigation authorities found no wrongdoing on the part of Ridley Inc. Steven VanRoekel repeated Ridley Inc.'s previous statement that "we take the threat of BSE very seriously; food safety and quality assurance continue to be a top priority for us and we have at all times been in full compliance with CFIA standards relevant to the May, 2003 BSE case". Ridley Inc. discontinued the use of ruminant meat and bone meal in its cattle feed formulae prior to the CFIA ban.

"When we learned of the court filing in Quebec, we immediately took steps to disclose this information and to alert the market to the possibility of these additional class actions" VanRoekel said. "Now that these three additional filings have been made, we will proceed to vigorously defend our position."

Ridley Corporation Limited of Sydney, Australia, which owns 70% of Ridley Inc. is also identified as a defendant in the Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta filings. Compensation damages are sought from the named defendants in each of the filings.

In addition, the Alberta filing seeks punitive damages against Ridley Inc. and Ridley Corporation Limited of an unspecified amount and each of the Ontario and Saskatchewan filings allege punitive damages against them in the amount of $100,000,000. Ridley Inc. understands that it is not unusual for plaintiffs to allege damages in excessive amounts; actual damages, if any, must be proven to the satisfaction of the courts.