Federal-Mogul says it expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection in Britain soon, after years of struggling against asbestos liability claims.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001. It faced 365,000 lawsuits seeking millions in damages.

Britain's bankruptcy supervision authority ended its oversight of Federal-Mogul's Britain-based operations, which include facilities in Europe, the Americas and Asia, the company said.

“We are pleased with the recent developments that bring the company closer to emergence from a complex bankruptcy proceeding,” said Federal-Mogul chairman, president and CEO, José Maria Alapont.

“We remain focused on our global profitable growth strategy to provide world-class products and services with leading technology and innovation that satisfy customer, employee and stakeholder expectations.”