Writes cheque for $69 million
Xerox has agreed to write a $69 million cheque to make
lawyers from several of its shareholders go away.
The lawsuits were over the company's acquisition of
Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services last year During the $6 billion
acquisition there were some additional, exclusive payments to ACS founder
Darwin Deason totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
Deason got a billion in stock and cash from Xerox,
including a $300 million premium for his Class B shares of ACS. ACS had defended the premium, saying it was
"consistent with other strategic acquisitions of similar scope and
size."
However several shareholder lawsuits were filed in Dallas
and Delaware, alleging that Deason's deal was overly generous compared with
what other ACS stockholders stood to receive. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday,
Xerox said it "did not admit to any wrongdoing."
Under the terms of the deal, Deason will pay $12.8
million of the settlement amount back.