Ahold: Moberg clears the decks

Ahold has agreed to pay $1.1bn to compensate its old shareholders for the scandal that sunk its stock in 2003. Why has the Dutch retailer settled now? One reason may be that Ahold has been able to secure a reasonable deal. The plaintiffs reckoned they were owed $5bn in damages. And a shareholder lobby which helped broker the deal said expectations had been higher, between E1bn and E1.5bn. It also makes sense for Ahold to draw a line under the episode. The retailer now knows how much of the cas...