WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal judge signed off Friday on a $141 million settlement of a class-action fraud suit that investors who lost money on Sunbeam Corp. stock brought against the bankrupt appliance maker.
The suit accused the maker of Sunbeam, Oster, Mr. Coffee, First Alert and other brands and its officers of inflating stock prices and misleading investors about the company's sales and earnings in the 18-month period leading up to the ouster of chairman and chief executive Al Dunlap in June 1998.
The agreement will provide about $106 million for investors. Attorneys estimated investors will be compensated for 12 percent to 15 percent of their losses. "We're pleased that we were able to get as much as we did," said Robert Kornreich, a New York attorney for investors.
Tens of thousands of shareholders have filed claims for their share of the settlement, and the last claims must be postmarked by Sept. 6.
Attorneys will get a 25 percent share of the settlement, or about $35 million, in fees.
The bulk of the settlement is coming from Sunbeam's accountant, Arthur Andersen. The accounting firm, which was convicted in June on a criminal charge for shredding Enron audit documents, agreed to pay $110 million as part of a Sunbeam settlement last year.