Just minutes before a scheduled trial against rival Eaton Corp., the truck parts manufacturer Meritor Inc. and its quartet of outside law firms secured a $500 million settlement on Monday. The deal caps nearly a decade of antitrust litigation that pulled in lawyers from at least eight law firms.
A half-billion-dollar settlement is nothing to sneeze at, but Meritor shareholders appeared disappointed that the company didn’t shoot for more. The company’s stock price dropped by 13 percent on Monday, though it rebounded slightly on Tuesday. Analysts opined that the deal was a good one for Eaton given its potential liability, which topped $2 billion.
