The North East Scotland Pension Fund (NESPF), which administers the pensions of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray council staff, led a class action lawsuit, alleging Under Armour made false statements about its products, leading to significant losses for investors.

The settlement, pending court approval, comes weeks before a scheduled trial in the US. Under Armour agreed to the settlement to avoid further litigation costs and distractions, stating the settlement does not constitute an admission of fault.

“We firmly believe that our sales practices, accounting practices, and disclosures were appropriate, and deny any wrongdoing in this case,” said Mehri Shadman, Under Armour’s chief legal officer and corporate secretary. “Today’s announcement allows us to move past this more than seven-year-old matter so we can avoid the ongoing distraction of litigation and provide certainty to the business at a time when we are executing on important strategic priorities.”

US law firm Robbins Geller Rudman and Dowd LLP handled the lawsuit on behalf of NESPF.

“This is an important win for investors and a strong message to the directors and officers of public companies,” said Mark Solomon, a Robbins Geller partner and counsel to the lead plaintiff.

He added: “Prior government enforcement efforts yielded a modest $9 million penalty. Obtaining a recovery almost 50 times greater underscores the critical role pension funds can play in holding companies accountable.”

If approved by the court, the settlement here will represent the second largest ever securities class action recovery in the Fourth Circuit and one of the top 50 largest such recoveries in US history.

“Our trial team was looking forward to trying the case to a jury. The readiness of our team to try the case and do so effectively was instrumental in helping us obtain this outsized recovery,” said Robert R. Henssler Jr, Robbins Geller partner and lead trial counsel.

A spokesperson for the pension fund, which served as lead plaintiff for the class of investors, said: “We are pleased to have helped secure this exceptional outcome. We decided that stepping forward to lead the litigation and hold defendants accountable was an appropriate exercise of our stewardship role, and we welcomed the opportunity to do so.”