(Yicai) Oct. 28 -- E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding has agreed to pay USD433.5 million to resolve a class action lawsuit by US investors, with Chinese investors potentially eligible to share in the compensation.

The conditional settlement, which awaits court approval, is intended to avoid further litigation costs and disruptions, Alibaba said on Oct. 25. The Hangzhou-based firm denies any wrongdoing, liability, fault, or damages, and the settlement does not constitute an admission that the claims made in the lawsuit had any legal basis, it added.

Filed in March last year, the lawsuit claimed that Alibaba violated securities laws by making misstatements about its antitrust and exclusivity practices, which allegedly led to artificial inflation of its stock price and caused financial losses to investors.

Under the settlement, individuals and entities that bought or otherwise acquired Alibaba's American depositary shares between Nov. 13, 2019 and Dec. 23, 2020 are eligible to share in the settlement. Alibaba officers, directors, and their immediate family members are not.

The settlement represents about 3.7 percent of the case's maximum potential damages of USD11.2 billion, said You Yunting, senior partner at Shanghai Debund Law Offices.

The percentage is higher than the average 1.8 percent settlement rate in securities class action lawsuits over the past three years and the average 0.4 percent rate for cases with investor losses exceeding USD10 billion in the past decade, he pointed out.

Chinese investors seeking compensation should monitor the websites of the relevant law firms for announcements and follow the claims procedures, You noted. But they may face potential challenges in receiving compensation, he added, citing personal experience with expired compensation checks.

In 2021, Alibaba was fined CNY18.2 billion (USD2.6 billion) for monopolistic practices in China's e-commerce platform services sector and was required to submit compliance reports to the State Administration for Market Regulation for three consecutive years.

Editor: Martin Kadiev