Motorola announced that it won approval of a settlement plan with Iridium, ending a 9-year bankruptcy suit for the handset maker and satellite phone provider. The settlement, approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck, requires no out-of-pocket money from Motorola, instead calling for Iridium to distribute a 1% recovery rate to unsecured creditors on claims up to $1.6 billion.
Iridium, founded in 1992, began launching satellites for its mobile phone service in 1997. In 1998, Motorola backed the satellite phone system, but less than a year later Iridium filed for bankruptcy, failing to attract customers willing to pay up to $10 a minute for service.
