Continental and UAL to divulge more on deal talks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Continental Airlines CAL.N said it would divulge more details about its merger talks with United Airlines as part of a settlement with a group of shareholders who sued Continental, claiming the company sold itself too cheaply.

In a securities filing on Tuesday, Continental said it would disclose certain investment banking fees paid to advisers to Continental and United, a unit of UAL Corp UAUA.O, over the past two years.

Under the settlement, the charges against the two airlines will be dropped, Continental said in the filing.

UAL announced plans in May to buy Continental in an all-stock deal worth $3.17 billion that would create the world's largest airline

Three class action lawsuits were filed against Continental, its board and UAL shortly after the merger announcement, according to the filing. Shareholders said the companies and the board accepted too low a price for the deal and accused the parties of breaching their fiduciary duties.

Later, all three suits were grouped together before a single judge, according to the filing.

UAL and Continental will also divulge how they arrived at the final stock exchange ratio in the deal and the analytical procedures used by the companies' financial advisers.

Spokeswomen for both airlines could not be immediately reached. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; editing by Bernard Orr)