3M Co. has agreed to pay $6 billion to resolve hundreds of thousands of lawsuits alleging it sold defective earplugs to the U.S. military that led to hearing damage for combat troops.
The company will pay $5 billion in cash and $1 billion in 3M common stock under the terms of the agreement, it said in a statement on Tuesday. It said it would record a third-quarter pretax charge of about $4.2 billion, on top of the $1.1 billion it has already allocated for the claims. 3M isn¡¯t admitting any "fault or liability¡± as part of the settlement, according to court filings.
The settlement, in one of the largest multi-district litigation cases in U.S. history, resolves a major source of uncertainty for 3M investors. They have watched the company¡¯s market value decline by more than half since 2019 amid legal liability from the earplug claims and 3M¡¯s legacy of producing "forever chemicals.¡± In June 3M agreed to pay as much as $12.5 billion to settle claims by drinking-water utilities over the substances.
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