&Torchmark Settles With Waddell Reed

Torchmark Corp. says it has completed previously announced efforts to settle most lawsuits involving Waddell & Reed Financial Inc.[@@]

Torchmark, Birmingham, owned Waddell & Reed, Overland Park, Kan., until 1998. The companies ended up feuding over Waddell & Reed’s efforts to increase its distance from Torchmark after Torchmark used a public stock sale to turn Waddell & Reed into an independent company.

The settlements now completed include actions in Alabama, California and Kansas, Torchmark says.