3M Co. has tentatively agreed to pay more than $5.5 billion to resolve over 300,000 lawsuits claiming it sold the U.S. military defective combat earplugs, people familiar with the deal have said.
The settlement would avert a potentially much larger liability that 3M sought to curb through a controversial bankruptcy case that ultimately collapsed. The sum is about half the roughly $10 billion some financial analysts predicted 3M could end up paying over allegations the earplugs didn¡¯t adequately protect the hearing of service members.
Traders welcomed the resolution. 3M shares were up 5.8% at $104.66 at 9:45 a.m. in New York on Monday.
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