Kaplan Fox Has Filed a Class Action to Recover Losses for Investors Who Purchased J.Jill Common Stock

NEW YORK, Oct. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP (www.kaplanfox.com) has filed a class action suit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts against J. Jill, Inc. ("J. Jill" or the "Company") (NYSE: JILL), certain of its senior officers, directors, underwriters, and controlling shareholder. 

The complaint alleges that Defendants violated Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933.  The complaint is brought on behalf of a persons who purchased J.Jill common stock in the Company's March 9, 2017 initial public offering ("IPO" or "Offering") under an Amended Registration Statement filed with the SEC on Form S-1/A on February 27, 2017 and a Prospectus filed with the SEC on March 9, 2017 (the "Prospectus") (collectively the "Registration Statement") which became effective on March 9, 2017 (the "Class").  In the Offering, 11,666,667 shares of J.Jill common stock were sold at $13.00 per share for gross proceeds of $151,666,671. 

The complaint further alleges that the Registration Statement represented that at the time of the IPO the Company had "delivered strong, consistent growth in sales and profitability" and had "established a solid foundation to support long-term, sustainable growth by investing to build our team, market our brand and enhance our systems, distribution center and data insight capabilities."  The Registration Statement further represented that "our customer-focused strategy, foundational investments and data insights have resulted in consistent, profitable growth and industry-leading Adjusted EBITDA margins of 14.6% in pro forma fiscal year 2015."  The complaint further alleges that the Registration Statement represented that a key reason for its growth at the time of the Offering was growth in the Company's "direct channel" sales, and that another important financial metric of the Company was its total company comparable sales. The complaint further alleges that the Registration Statement's representations concerning the Company's purported growth in its direct to consumer sales, and total comparable sales growth were untrue statements and failed to disclose material facts because at the time of the Offering, the growth in Company's total company comparable sales had materially declined, and shortly after the IPO, turned negative, and the Company's direct to consumer sales were not growing.  

On October 11, 2017, after the close of trading, J.Jill issued a press release titled "J.Jill Updates Q3 Fiscal 2017 Guidance, that stated, in part, the following:

J.Jill, Inc. (JILL) today announced that the company is updating its guidance for the third quarter ending October 28, 2017.

Paula Bennett, President and CEO of J.Jill, Inc., stated: "We have experienced a lower than expected sales trend across both our retail and direct channels, and are updating our guidance for the quarter. We have been assessing the change in trend and have identified product and marketing calendar issues that are affecting traffic and conversion, and we are reacting quickly."

For the third quarter 2017, the company now expects total company comparable sales of -3% to -5%, with a moderate decline in gross margin as compared to last year. The company also now expects GAAP diluted EPS of $0.07 to $0.09, and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.08 to $0.10 for the third quarter 2017. Adjusted diluted earnings per share excludes approximately $0.6 million of non-recurring expenses associated with the company's transition to a public company.

On October 12, 2017, J.Jill stock declined from a close on October 11, 2017 of $9.93 per share, to close at $4.86 per share, a decline of $5.07 per share or over 51% on heavy trading volume.

If you are a member of the proposed Class, you may move the court no later than December 12, 2017 to serve as a lead plaintiff for the proposed Class.  You need not seek to become a lead plaintiff in order to share in any possible recovery.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of the proposed Class and is represented by Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP (www.kaplanfox.com). Our firm, with offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Jersey, has decades of experience in prosecuting investor class actions and actions involving violations of the Federal securities laws.

If you have any questions about this Notice, the action, your rights, or your interests, please e-mail attorneys Jeff Campisi ([email protected]), or Larry King ([email protected]), or contact them by phone, regular mail, or fax:

Jeffrey P. Campisi 
KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP
850 Third Avenue, 14th Floor  
New York, New York  10022
Toll-Free Telephone: (800) 290-1952
Telephone: (212) 687-1980Fax: (212) 687-7714
E-mail address: [email protected] 

Laurence D. King
KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP
350 Sansome Street, Suite 400 
San Francisco, California 94104
Telephone: (415) 772-4700 
Fax:  415-772-4707 
E-mail address: [email protected]

SOURCE Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP

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