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Chron.com | Cooper adds up asbestos claims
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Dec.
19, 2005, 10:58PM
Cooper adds up asbestos claims
By PURVA PATEL
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Cooper Industries said Monday it will settle more than 38,000 asbestos claims related to its former Abex brake unit by putting up $130 million in cash over the next two years, plus 1.4 million shares currently worth more than $100 million.
Over the next 25 years, Cooper and its insurance companies could be required to put up as much as $500 million more for the trust to pay those with health problems linked to asbestos exposure now and in the future.
The trust is being set up in the bankruptcy case of Federal-Mogul Corp., which bought Abex from the Houston manufacturing company in 1998.
The agreement must be approved by the court and 75 percent of the...
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