HOUSTON (Bloomberg) ? Kaiser Aluminum Corp. said underwriters with the Lloyd's of London insurance market agreed to pay $137 million to the company under policies covering the costs of asbestos lawsuits.

The settlement, which requires bankruptcy court approval, will release the underwriters from further liability, Houston-based Kaiser said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kaiser, a maker of aluminium products with about 2,000 employees, said in June it expects to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the fourth quarter. The company sought protection from creditors in February 2002 in part because it faced more than 120,000 asbestos-related claims.

Asbestos, formerly used as a building material and insulator, is blamed for lung cancer and other lung diseases in people who inhaled the fibres for several years.

Jennifer Culley, a spokeswoman for Lloyd's in London said she couldn't immediately comment. Thor Valdmanis, a spokesman for Lloyd's in New York didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.