Muscatine-based Bandag Inc. has announced that it has tentatively agreed to settle a potential class-action lawsuit that had threatened the company’s $1.05 billion acquisition by Japan’s Bridgestone Corp., Reuters reported.     Bandag, a supplier of tire retreading materials and equipment, also said it agreed to pay $610,000 in fees and expenses to the lawyers for the plaintiffs as part of the settlement, pending court approval.

Bandag denied the lawsuit’s claims that it had failed to solicit other potential bids and created deterrents to potential rival offers in its merger with Grip Acquisition Corp., and then with Bridgestone, but wanted to avoid delaying or otherwise imperiling the deal.