Bear Stearns investors withdraw injunction request

NEW YORK May 7 (Reuters) - Bear Stearns Cos Inc BSC.N shareholders suing over the planned JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N) takeover have withdrawn a request for a preliminary injunction to stop the deal, an attorney for the plaintiffs said on Wednesday.

The plaintiffs' lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court will go forward, although it will now focus on trying to get monetary damages on behalf of Bear Stearns shareholders, said Daniel Krasner, a senior partner at law firm Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP.

He said that based on preliminary estimates, plaintiffs could seek damage claims of at least $2.8 billion in the lawsuit.

After evaluating the case "we think it's in the best interests of the Bear stockholders to let the transaction proceed and sue for damages," Krasner told Reuters. "We think that monetary recovery is all that is really available to the Bear stockholders at the end of the day." (Reporting by Martha Graybow; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)