Porsche Is Taking Action Against Damage Claims

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

Porsche is fighting legally on numerous fronts because of the lost takeover battle with VW. In the USA, the Stuttgart-based company is now showing its teeth and defending itself against claims for damages in the billions.

By Stefanie Koller

According to the will of Porsche, the action by investment funds in the USA for damages in the billions due to alleged price manipulation is to be dismissed. A corresponding application had been submitted to a New York court, the company announced on Wednesday in Stuttgart. The Swabians defend themselves against the allegations of having deceived the public about the real intentions of the planned VW takeover. They also consider the US court to have no jurisdiction.

Decision in the coming year

The investment funds sued Porsche Automobil Holding SE as well as the former CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and the former CFO Holger Härter at the beginning of the year. You accuse them of misinformation and market price manipulation. As a result, the funds would have suffered losses due to price losses. According to media reports it is about billions of dollars in damages.

Whether the Swabians will prevail with their application or whether the lawsuit will be admitted will only be known in the coming months. It is expected that the court will rule on this by mid-January 2011 at the latest.

Accusation not sufficiently substantiated

The planned merger of Porsche and VW could be delayed by the lawsuit and a possible process. The Stuttgart-based company lost its grip on the originally planned takeover of VW and is now to be gradually integrated into the VW group. Wiedeking and Härter had to take their hats in July 2009.

In its motion, Porsche SE rejects having deceived the public about VW's real intentions. The statements regarding the stake in VW never excluded the possibility that the stake in Wolfsburg would be increased to 75 percent, according to the application. The lawsuits did not sufficiently show that Porsche SE had made criminally wrong statements. The accusation of market manipulation is also insufficiently justified.

Review of jurisdiction

At the end of October 2008, Porsche announced that it had access to a good 74 percent of VW ordinary shares, thus triggering a fireworks display. Dealers who had sold borrowed VW shares in the hope of falling prices had been surprised by the increase in shares and options from Porsche. As a result, there were suddenly fewer VW shares available in the market than the dealers had to buy back to return to the lenders. The result was a panicked hunt for the Volkswagen papers, the share price shot up to over 1000 euros.

The Stuttgart also argue that the US court has no jurisdiction. The case should be clarified in Germany. The VW shares are not listed on a US stock exchange and the plaintiffs did not say that they bought or sold VW shares in the US, according to the motion. The case concerns German law, German securities and German markets. The German authorities have already checked similar allegations, writes Porsche.

Also public prosecutor's office on the way

The Stuttgart public prosecutor's office had already initiated investigations in August 2009 on suspicion of market manipulation in the takeover battle between VW and Porsche. The question to be clarified is whether Porsche possibly misinformed investors and players on the stock exchange in the course of the entry into Volkswagen and influenced the price development in an impermissible manner. According to the investigators, the first interim results will be presented in late 2010 or early 2011. (dpa)