Shares of embattled lender Countrywide Financial Corp. gained Thursday morning after it set a June 25 date for shareholders to vote on the $4 billion takeover by Bank of America Corp.

Because the date was set, and given the announcements Wednesday that Countrywide had agreed to settle shareholder lawsuits challenging the deal and that its current President, David Sambol, would retire instead of head the combined Countrywide/BofA mortgage unit, investors were reassured that the deal is on track.

Countrywide said the special shareholder meeting will take place at its Calabasas headquarters. Bank of America had set a July 1 closing date for the deal.

Shares in Countrywide closed up 8.5 percent Wednesday and were up another 8.4 percent to $5.41 in early trading Thursday.