Under Armour has agreed to pay $434 million to the North East Scotland Pension Fund (NESPF), which represents employees in three Scottish municipalities.
Council employees in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, and Moray are among the 71,000 people whose pension plans are overseen by the NESPF.
The proposed deal comes only weeks before a jury trial was supposed to start in the United States, subject to court clearance.
Council Pension Fund Settles Under Armour Lawsuit
NESPF, which had invested millions of pounds in Under Armour's shares, claimed that the sportswear firm had made misleading claims about its products and financial health, as reported by BBC.
According to earlier reports, the joint council fund lost around £6 million ($7.6 million).
Legal expert and NESPF lawyer Mark Solomon said the decision was a major victory for investors and a powerful statement to the directors and officers of public businesses, referring to the $434 million penalty compared to the modest $9 million that was fined in earlier attempts by the government.
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Under Armour Denies Allegations Despite Settlement
Meanwhile, Baltimore-based Under Armour has maintained its denial of the charges and has agreed in principle to avoid the expense and dangers of litigation, according to a CNN report. It said the settlement does not constitute an acknowledgment of blame or wrongdoing.
This announcement reaffirms the company's previous commitment to pay $434 million to resolve claims asserted by stockholders whose shares were purchased between September 16, 2015, and November 1, 2019.
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