In the wake of Raytheon’s settlement of the securities class action pending against the company in the D. of Mass. for $410 million in cash and securities, its co-defendant and former auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, also has decided to avoid a trial. The Boston Globe has a lengthy article on PwC’s agreement to pay $50 million to settle its portion of the suit, which alleged that the auditor helped Raytheon hide cost overruns. Taken together, the Raytheon settlements are the fifth-largest ever in a securities class action.
Quote of note: “The settlement allows Raytheon and PwC to put the dark days of 1999 behind them. But the biggest winners in the case may be the jurors who faced the prospect of sifting through complex and highly technical evidence for six weeks or longer. Instead, just after the jury was led in yesterday morning, Judge Saris disclosed the settlement before lightheartedly admonishing the jurors: ‘Don’t look so happy!'”
The 10b-5 Daily 