Cruise Automation ex-partners settle dispute after GM deal

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The two co-founders of Cruise Automation, the self-driving car startup acquired by General Motors (GM.N) for a reported $1 billion (£684 million), have settled their dispute and will dismiss their lawsuits against each other, one of the parties said on Thursday.

Jeremy Guillory said in a brief statement the dispute had been settled "on mutually agreeable terms" between he and former partner Kyle Vogt, who had sued him in April in Superior Court in San Francisco, prompting a counter-suit by Guillory.

Vogt, CEO of Cruise Automation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. General Motors, which said last week the Cruise acquisition had closed, declined comment.

GM has never disclosed the value of the deal, but Vogt's lawsuit repeated reports that GM offered up to $1 billion.

The lawsuits hinged on the ownership stake of Guillory in Cruise Automation. Vogt had denied Guillory was a co-founder, saying he had made "extortionary" claims in the wake of GM's announced acquisition in March.

Guillory claimed in his counter-suit that he had first developed the Cruise technology and Vogt had agreed he would be a 50 percent equity owner in Cruise.

In his statement on Thursday, Guillory said "Cruise and Vogt acknowledge that Jeremy Guillory was an initial co-founder of Cruise."

(Reporting By Alexandria Sage; Editing by Andrew Hay)