Motorola Solutions gained final federal court approval of a $200 million settlement with shareholders led by two public pension funds in suburban Detroit that sued the company and top executives in 2007 for allegedly overstating its prospects in the prior year.
The $784 million Macomb County Employees’ Retirement System, Mount Clemens, Mich., and the $1.1 million St. Clair Shores (Mich.) Police & Fire Pension System were lead plaintiffs in the class-action suit filed in August 2007 after the company, then known as Motorola Inc., had fallen to the world’s third-biggest maker of mobile phones. A year earlier, it had ranked second.
The company changed its name to Motorola Solutions last year after spinning off its mobile-phone making unit, christened Motorola Mobility Inc.
The settlement was approved by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago at a hearing Wednesday.
“We are pleased to have this behind us as it removes the risks and distractions of litigation,” Nicholas Sweers, a spokesman for Motorola Solutions, said in a telephone interview.
“It’s a terrific result for the class,” said attorney James E. Barz, a partner with law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, lead counsel for the stockholders.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve in Chicago granted tentative approval of the settlement in February. Mr. Kennelly told lawyers for both sides that St. Eve was out of town and unavailable to preside over the final approval hearing.
In a May 7 ruling, Ms. St. Eve rejected two shareholders’ objections to the accord. In a separate decision, St. Eve awarded attorneys for the shareholders 27.5% of the settlement amount, or $55 million, plus $4.7 million in costs.
