The conservative donors Charles and David Koch have reached an agreement with the Cato Institute to settle their legal fight over ownership of the libertarian think tank that the brothers helped launch 30 years ago, reports the National Journal.

In an e-mail sent Tuesday to staff members at the nonprofit policy group, the founder and president, Ed Crane, said the institute had “come to an accommodation” with the Koch brothers, who earlier this year sued for control. “It will be great to get all this unpleasantness behind us,” Mr. Crane wrote.

The deal will dissolve a shareholder agreement through which the Kochs held two of four controlling stakes in the institute. They claimed that the agreement gave them an option to buy the stake of a third shareholder who died last year, a move resisted by Mr. Crane.

The dispute caused a split in conservative circles, with Mr. Crane and his backers contending that the Kochs wanted to remake the nonpartisan Cato Institute to reflect the interests of the Tea Party-affiliated groups they back. Under the proposed settlement Mr. Crane will step down as Cato’s leader and be allowed to name his successor, but the Koch brothers will have a veto over the hire.