Indiana-based trailer maker Wabash National Corp. has agreed to a $500,000 settlement to terminate a lawsuit brought by investors who claimed they were defrauded in a stock offering by the company three years ago.

Under the agreement, which is subject to court approval, the company will pay that amount into a fund from which purchasers of stock in Wabash’s 1998 public offering who meet certain criteria will be entitled to recovery. Unclaimed monies remaining in the fund, after attorney’s fees and expenses are paid, will be returned to the company, Wabash said.

“Wabash has maintained from the beginning that these claims were totally without merit and that we intended to vigorously defend the company, its directors and officers,” said Donald J. Ehrlich, Wabash’s chairman, president and CEO. “It is unfortunate for the company and our shareholders it took over two years for the matter to reach this favorable resolution. Fortunately, we can now say that this distraction has been put behind us so that we can move on.”