Back in 2010, HP acquired Palm with the promise that it would invest heavily in webOS and bring it to a broad ecosystem of devices. But a year later, the company did a complete U-turn and decided to scrap the webOS business. This resulted in a lawsuit against the the personal computer maker accusing its former management of defrauding shareholders.
According to a Reuters report, the lawsuit has now been settled by the company at the cost of $57 million. "HP has reached a mutually acceptable resolution through a mediated settlement," said an HP spokeswoman.
The plaintiffs include the LIUNA National Pension Fund and LIUNA Staff & Affiliates Pension Fund in Washington, D.C.; the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System; the Labourers' Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada in Oakville, Ontario ; and Union Asset Management Holding AG in Frankfurt, Germany.
"We are very happy with the settlement and are glad to have achieved this recovery for the affected HP shareholders," said Jonathan Gardner, co-lead counsel for the class.
The proposed settlement says that the company will deposit the amount into an interest-bearing escrow account within 20 days of getting an approval by U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford in Santa Ana, California.
Earlier this year, chipmaker Qualcomm acquired Palm patents from HP.