MPS Group and its board of directors have agreed to settle two purported class-action lawsuits filed in response to the announcement of MPS’s proposed merger with Adecco and Jaguar Acquisition Corp, a wholly owned subsidiary of Adecco, MPS Group has announced.

In the UK MPS Group’s subsidiaries include professional recruiters Badenoch & Clark, Judd Farris and Modis International.

An investigation by a law firm (which was not identified in the statement) had suggested that the transaction, which would see current investors of MPS Group realise a $13.80 per share price, “appears to be unfair” to the investors because “the offer to purchase MPS Group…appears opportunistically timed to take advantage of the current economic downturn”.

Various reports have placed the total value of the transaction at $1.17bn (£729.8m) and $1.3bn

The announcement Tuesday by MPS said that it, the other named defendants and the plaintiffs had agreed to settle the lawsuits, subject to court approval. “If the court approves the settlement contemplated in the memorandum, the lawsuits will be dismissed with prejudice,” the MPS Group statement said.

“MPS Group and the other defendants deny all of the allegations in the lawsuits and believe that the existing disclosures are appropriate under the law. Nevertheless, MPS Group and the other defendants have agreed to settle the putative class-action lawsuits in order to avoid costly litigation and reduce the risk of any delay to the closing of the merger,” the statement went on to say.

Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed by all the parties, MPS Group has agreed to provide additional information to its shareholders. It also agreed to pay the plaintiffs’ counsel’s legal fees and expenses, in an amount to be negotiated by the parties. “This payment will not affect the amount of merger consideration to be paid in the merger,” the statement said.

The European Union approved the takeover of MPS Group by Adecco in December.