SEC Ends Host America Probe

FM Staff

The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission has ended a two-year investigation of Host America Corp. and will not take any enforcement action, the company has announced. Host America, now called Certeran Corp., spun off its two foodservice divisions, Lindley Food Service and Host America Corporate Dining, to their management in June and now operates in the energy management field exclusively.

The SEC probe was launched in July 2005 after Host America issued a press release stating that Wal-Mart was likely to place in its stores an energy-saving device it had developed. A stock run-up from $3.12 to $14.25 a share in 10 days led the SEC to halt trading and investigate the release.

NASDAQ later delisted Host America, which now trades on the Pink Sheets over-the-counter market, and shareholders filed more than a dozen lawsuits, later combined into one, accusing the company of issuing misleading information. The company said it had reached a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs in June.