ACTIONS CORNER
Rolf E. Breuer must stand trial from 18 August in a criminal case for attempted perjury before the Munich district court, prosecutors said on 20 June. Initially, four dates are scheduled. The prosecution alleges that the former Deutsche Bank chief made deliberately untruthful statements in 2003 about the background to a TV interview, in a civil case for compensation for Leo Kirch’s multibillion bankruptcy. The charges were brought by prosecutors in November 2009, but the trial has been long delayed for further investigations.
The special dividend announced on 7 June by Deutsche Börse and NYSE EuroNext of a total of $900 million (around €631 million) has pacified recalcitrant shareholders, paving the way for the merger. The exchange operators want to pay an extraordinary dividend of two euros per Deutsche Börse share and $1.37 per NYSE EuroNext share, once the merger into the world’s largest exchange company has been completed. The dividend has, according to court documents, helped to settle a dispute before a court in the U.S. State of Delaware.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has upheld a complaint by Deutsche Telekom against government and KfW. The state development bank must according to the decision immediately pay the Bonn-based company 95 million euros. Thus the major shareholder takes prospectus liability for Telekom’s “third public offering” in June 2000. Deutsche Telekom had claimed back from KfW and the federal government the legal fees for a $112.5 million settlement reached in the U.S. in 2005. Still unclear are the demand for the remaining $17.5 million and the federal government’s obligation to pay expenses.
Deutsche Telekom must pay Telegate €41.28 million. The years of litigation between the directory assistance company (klicktel.de and 11880) and Deutsche Telekom were about abusive excessive prices for the transfer of address data from the Telekom subscriber list to the company in Planegg. Telekom as a dominant company had hampered Telegate from 1997 to 2001, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court ruled on 8 June. Already in April the court had twice ruled in favour of Telegate and sentenced Telekom to multimillion dollar payments.
Gagfah is defending itself against a lawsuit by the city of Dresden, alleging breach of contract, with several counterclaims against the municipality and against city financial chief Hartmut Vorjohann personally, said the residential property company. In early May Gagfah had dismissed Vorjohann from the Supervisory Board. The WOBA companies, shielded by the real-estate group or Gagfah itself, also want to examine whether they are entitled to compensation because of the city’s lawsuits. Dresden’s claims for 1.1 billion euros plus interest are directed exclusively against WOBA companies.
Ferrostaal is to pay a €177 million penalty for payments in connection with its multibillion submarine transactions with Greece and Portugal. The Munich prosecutors’ office has negotiated the sum with the lawyers of the Essen group and the court. It is well below its last claim, for 277 million euros. The MAN subsidiary did not want to comment; nor did the prosecutors. The truck manufacturer and State fund IPIC have not yet agreed on who is to pay for the consequences of the affair, which became known only after the takeover of IPIC.
PUMA has been spared payments of up to 98 million euros to Estudio 2000 in a legal dispute over the transfer of the Spanish trademark rights. Madrid district court on 14 June – as requested – overturned the contrary arbitration ruling of 2 June 2010, for a procedural error. The ruling had awarded the Franconians’ former licensees the sum as the price for buying back the trademark rights in Spain. Jochen Zeitz said he had expected such a verdict. The sporting-goods company will now consider all available options to secure all PUMA trademark rights in Spain.
The Munich prosecutors’ office has again brought charges against a former Siemens board member because of the bribery scandal. Uriel Sharef is the second group executive who has had to answer charges of bribery in court. According to the investigations, he was enmeshed in a system of slush funds and kickbacks in the awarding of a contract in Argentina.