|
"This agreement is not an admission of liability," 3M said in a
statement on Tuesday, adding it was prepared to continue to
defend itself in the litigation if certain agreed terms of the
agreement were not fulfilled.
The deal comes after a failed attempt by 3M earlier this year to
move the lawsuits, which had grown into the largest mass tort
litigation in U.S. history, into bankruptcy court in the hope of
limiting its liability.
The Combat Arms earplugs were made by Aearo Technologies, a
company 3M acquired in 2008. They were used by the U.S. military
in training and combat from 2003 to 2015, including in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
Aearo filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, with 3M pledging $1
billion to fund its liabilities stemming from the earplug
lawsuits.
However, a U.S. judge dismissed the bankruptcy of 3M's
subsidiary Aearo Technologies in June, ruling that Aearo as a
well-supported subsidiary of 3M enjoys a "greater degree of
financial security than warrants bankruptcy protection."
Shares of 3M were up about 1% at $105.20 in premarket trading on
Tuesday.
According to Tuesday's agreement, 3M will contribute a total
amount of $6 billion between 2023 and 2029, with $5 billion in
cash and $1 billion in common stock, the company said.
The latest settlement comes just months after 3M announced a
tentative $10.3 billion deal with a host of U.S. public water
systems to resolve claims of water pollution by per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, known as "forever
chemicals."
The industrial giant said it will record a pre-tax charge of
about $4.2 billion in the third quarter of 2023 related to the
settlement.
(Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
