Leucadia Settles Shareholder Class Actions

(RTTNews) - Leucadia National Corp. (LUK) said Thursday that it agreed to settle shareholder class actions relating to the March 1, 2013 deal through which Jefferies Group LLC became a subsidiary of Leucadia.

Seven class-action lawsuits had been filed in New York and Delaware on behalf of a class consisting of Jefferies Group's stockholders concerning the deal. The class actions named as defendants Leucadia, Jefferies Group, certain members of the board of directors of Jefferies Group, certain members of Leucadia's board of directors and, in certain of the actions, certain merger-related subsidiaries.

The settlement agreement, which is subject to court approval, provide for an aggregate payment of $70 million to certain former stockholders of Jefferies Group, other than the defendants and certain of their affiliates, along with attorneys' fees to be determined and approved by the court.

The agreement further provides that the settlement will be paid, at Leucadia's option, in either cash or Leucadia common shares. If approved by the court, the settlement will resolve all of the class-action claims in Delaware, and release the claims brought in New York.