A $65 million proposed global settlement over alleged stock option backdating by a semiconductor process control company has been reached between three pension entities and KLA-Tencor Corp.
Co-lead plaintiffs — the Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement, the Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit and the Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System — alleged in their class action that KLA officials manipulated stock options granted to the company’s officers, directors and other employees to provide a more profitable strike price, or the permitted price for company officials to buy company stock regardless of the current price of the stock, according to the initial lawsuit complaint. The result, according to the complaint, was that the market value of the San Jose, Calif.-based company’s securities was inflated because class members relied upon misleading public statements about KLA’s financial results and the integrity of KLA’s leaders.
