BP’s Archaea, Founders to Settle Looting Case, Sell Affiliate

BP Plc unit Archaea Energy Inc. and its founders plan to end a corporate looting case by paying $55 million and selling another affiliate, Noble Environmental Inc.

The agreement disclosed Tuesday would settle claims that three fraternity brothers and a fourth co-founder spent years stealing from Noble—a biogas venture—before steering a lucrative opportunity to themselves and using it to found Archaea, which they sold to BP for $4.1 billion. The lawsuit, filed last year, included aiding and abetting claims against Archaea.

The accord is conditioned on Noble’s sale to an undisclosed buyer on undisclosed terms, a transaction cross-conditioned on ...