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Investing.com -- U.S. energy company EQT (ST:EQTAB) has agreed to pay $167.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed by investors regarding its 2017 merger with Rice Energy, according to a federal court filing made Thursday.
The lawsuit claimed that EQT overstated the benefits of the $6.7 billion merger with Rice Energy. The settlement comes after nearly six years of litigation and three mediation sessions.
Plaintiffs in the case include the Government of Guam Retirement Fund, Eastern Atlantic States Carpenters Annuity Fund, Eastern Atlantic States Carpenters Pension Fund, and Cambridge Retirement System.
The plaintiffs noted in their filing that the $167.5 million cash recovery is "the largest securities class action recovery ever in the history of this District and the 14th largest in the history of the Third Circuit." The district refers to the U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania, and the Third Circuit is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
When the merger was announced in 2017, it was expected to create the largest natural gas producer in the United States and represented the biggest deal in EQT’s history as the company sought to expand its gas operations. EQT currently ranks as the second-largest gas producer in the country.
The plaintiffs stated that the settlement "provides a favorable result for Class Members because it allows for an immediate recovery and removes the considerable possibility that Class Members could recover significantly less or even nothing."
EQT officials were not immediately available for comment on the settlement.
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