KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 7 -- British insurer Prudential has reached an out-of-court settlement with its Malaysian partners, led by businessman Tan Sri Vincent Tan and members of Johor's royal family, over a long-running shareholding dispute.

The agreement allows Prudential to acquire an additional 19 per cent stake in Prudential Assurance Malaysia Berhad (PAMB) from Detik Ria, a company controlled by Tan, Singapore's CNA reported.

This acquisition, which still requires regulatory approval from the Ministry of Finance and Bank Negara Malaysia, would raise Prudential's stake in PAMB to 70 per cent.

Detik Ria, which will retain 30 per cent of PAMB after the deal, has started talks with local institutional investors in a bid to sell off its rem...