2008-07-10 10:13:20 - Vice Chancellor John W. Noble of a Delaware Court preliminary approved a tentative settlement in the Countrywide Financial Corp. lawsuit.

The Delaware Vice Chancellor John W. Noble of the Delaware Court of Chancery preliminary approved a tentative settlement in the Countrywide Financial Corp. lawsuit concerning the merger over the objections of the plaintiffs in a separate securities suit against the troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. The class action was filed by shareholders against Countrywide Financial Corp. over the Bank

of America Corp.'s proposed $4.1 billion purchase. Countrywide shareholders Attorneys in a federal lawsuit in California asked Vice Chancellor John W. Noble to reject the settlement, but Noble reportedly said he saw no reason to rule now on preliminary objections by one group of shareholders, when all shareholders will be given the opportunity to weigh in later. A formal hearing on the settlement was tentatively scheduled for October. The buyout by Bank of America Corp. that was completed this week. Bank of America gave Countrywide shareholders 0.1822 share of Bank of America for each share of Countrywide they owned. The deal was worth around $2.5 billion, based on Bank of America's stock price Tuesday when the deal closed. Attorneys for Countrywide disputed the $2 billion figure. Vice Chancellor John W. Noble allowed the settlement to proceed, but he also gave Countrywide Financial Corp. shareholders the chance to gather evidence on how the merger was negotiated, which they can present during final hearing.