Kansas City, Mo ? Sprint Corp. said Wednesday it will pay $50 million and tighten its corporate governance in settling two class-action lawsuits tied to its derailed merger with WorldCom Inc.

The accord likely would cover thousands of shareholders who bought “inflated” Sprint stock between October 1999 and September 2000, said shareholder attorney Bill Lerach.

As part of the deal which requires court approval, the telecommunications company agreed to bolster the number of independent directors on its board, to set term limits and to appoint a lead independent director.

Other internal controls include eliminating three-year staggered terms on the board, requiring members to seek re-election each year.

Sprint said the settlement does not reflect an admission of liability or wrongdoing by its directors and officers and that there has been no finding of federal securities violations.

“We are pleased to have this matter settled,” said William Esrey, outgoing chairman of Sprint. “We can now put the distraction and expense of this litigation behind us.”