Judge Approves Settlement of AST Lawsuit : Technology: Tentative OK of $12.5-million agreement covers three other shareholder actions.

A federal judge Monday tentatively approved a $12.5-million settlement in a lawsuit that accused Irvine-based AST Research Inc. of misleading investors about its financial condition after buying Tandy Corp.’s personal computer operations two years ago.

The settlement, subject to formal court approval Nov. 17, also covers three other class-action shareholder lawsuits, including one scheduled to go to trial in October, and a claim for damages that hadn’t yet reached the lawsuit stage.

The end of litigation comes as the nation’s fifth-largest maker of personal computers struggles to put its operations in order following a loss of $99.3 million for the fiscal year ended July 1.

The company’s troubles, stemming in part from its Tandy acquisition, forced it to seek a major investor to bolster its finances. AST’s shareholders recently approved a $378-million investment by Samsung Electronics Co., giving the South Korean electronics giant a 40% stake in AST.

The settlement amount is much less than lawyers for the shareholders had sought--a total of $150 million in all four cases--but it was at the upper end of what the company was willing to pay to settle the case, lawyers indicated.

“The company is at a very critical point, and this trial was very time-consuming,” said one defense lawyer. “Now management can get back to running the company.”

Top AST executives, including Chairman Safi U. Qureshey, had spent nearly five days in court in Downtown Los Angeles as lawyers for shareholders questioned them. The settlement came as the plaintiffs neared the end of their case Aug. 17, but the figure was not disclosed until Monday.

The company, still in negotiations with its insurance carrier, said it expects that most of the settlement will be covered by insurance.

“We got the best we could, considering that the judge had dismissed all but one claim before trial,” said Kevin Prongay, one of the lawyers for the shareholders.