Pricewaterhouse to pay $225 million in Tyco settlement

Following the accounting scandal at the diversified manufacturer Tyco International Ltd, auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) yesterday said that it would pay $225 million to settle a class-action case brought against it by Tyco''s investors.

The settlement with PwC, combined with a recent settlement with Tyco announced earlier, brings the total settlement to more than $3.2 billion, according to a statement from law firm Grant & Eisenhofer and two other law firms representing the plaintiffs.

Tyco last month agreed to pay $2.975 billion into a fund for plaintiffs in 32 class-action lawsuits that resulted from an accounting scandal that sent former Tyco chief executive Dennis Kozlowski to prison for a minimum of an over eight-year term for allegedly misappropriating more that $400 million of the company''s funds.

Kozlowski and former Tyco finance chief financial officer Mark Swartz were found guilty in June 2005 of looting $600 million from the company.

The company has since spun off Tyco Electronics Ltd. to shareholders.

The PwC settlement is still subject to approval by US District Court in Concord, New Hampshire.

"PricewaterhouseCoopers has decided to resolve the vast majority of the Tyco litigation involving the firm by joining the global settlement previously announced," said PricewaterhouseCoopers spokesman David Nestor. "While PwC was prepared to continue to defend all aspects of its work in the litigation process, the cost of that defense and the size of the securities class action made settlement the sensible choice for the firm."

"This is more a formality today in terms of the filing of the full settlement agreement with the court," said Tyco International spokesman Paul Fitzhenry.