Bear Stearns Settles Bad-Advice Lawsuit

Bear, Stearns Cos. said it paid $30 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed the securities company gave bad merger advice to a software company that later went bankrupt. The settlement comes 11 years after Bear Stearns advised California software company Daisy Systems Corp. in the takeover of a smaller rival. A Bear Stearns spokeswoman confirmed the settlement but gave no further details, other than to say Bear Stearns dropped a claim for $2.5 million in investment banking fees as part of the pact. Daisy collapsed under a heavy debt load after the takeover and its creditors sued Bear Stearns for damages. A California federal jury in 1998 ordered the Wall Street firm to pay $108 million to Daisy’s creditors. A judge later reduced that to $36 million, and the case had been headed for appeals court this summer.