Between 2008 and 2015, Postbank was completely taken over by Deutsche Bank.
(Photo: imago images/imagebroker)
Karlsruhe In the long legal dispute with Deutsche Bank, former Postbank shareholders can still hope for more money. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) overturned decisions by the Cologne Higher Regional Court (OLG) in two model proceedings on Tuesday, which had recently rejected additional claims from investors. The Karlsruhe judges still see open questions that now have to be clarified in Cologne in what is now the third attempt.
The plaintiffs accuse Deutsche Bank of paying them far too little for their shares when it took over Postbank completely. There is a lot at stake for the Frankfurt money house. According to the annual report, “a significant number of other lawsuits” are pending at the Cologne district court in the complex.
Overall, it is therefore about additional claims of almost 700 million euros. Lawyer Oliver Krauß, who represents numerous plaintiffs, assumes that the total amount including interest should now amount to around one billion euros.
Deutsche Bank completely took over Postbank between 2008 and 2015. A voluntary takeover offer of EUR 25 per share was made to the shareholders in October 2010. It was accepted for more than 48 million shares – also by the plaintiffs.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The core question of the dispute is whether Deutsche Bank was in fact in charge of Postbank earlier. Then the money house would have had to submit a mandatory offer at this point in time. And before the financial crisis, the Postbank share price was significantly higher. The plaintiffs believe that they were entitled to EUR 57.25 per share.
The case is also complex for capital market lawyers
According to the law, the bidder has taken control if he holds at least 30 percent of the voting rights. Deutsche Bank had originally agreed to acquire a minority stake of 29.75 percent with Deutsche Post in 2008 – i.e. just below the threshold. In addition, however, there was a complex network of agreements that was difficult to understand. According to the plaintiffs, the voting rights from the shares owned by Deutsche Post should have been attributed to Deutsche Bank at that time.
Assessing this question is highly complex. The presiding judge, Manfred Born, said when the verdict was announced that the decisive provision in the Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act was not easy to handle, even for experienced capital market lawyers.
Among other things, the Higher Regional Court now has to deal with the question of whether Deutsche Post was already holding Postbank shares “for the account” of Deutsche Bank, as the law states. It depends on who bears the opportunities and risks from the shares, i.e. who would benefit from a possible dividend. The BGH considers it possible that it could have been Deutsche Bank.
Investor lawyer Krauss said he was “very confident” about the next round. He said the plaintiffs had always been willing to settle, but Deutsche Bank had “not made any move in that direction.” A spokesman for Deutsche Bank said: “Our legal opinion remains that the lawsuits are unfounded.” This opinion will continue to be represented before the Higher Regional Court.
>> Read here: “Absolutely zero euros”: Braun’s defense attorney accuses Dubai governor Bellenhaus of “true stories”.
The BGH had already announced a judgment in the dispute in 2014 and referred the matter back to Cologne for more detailed examination. As a result, extensive negotiations were held again at the Higher Regional Court, the judges heard new witnesses and had contracts presented to them. In the end, both lawsuits were dismissed in December 2020.
In one of the proceedings, the investor magazine Effecten-Spiegel, which had 150,000 Postbank shares, is arguing about an additional payment of almost 5 million euros. In the second method, claims from different shareholders are grouped together. The Cologne district court awarded these plaintiffs a total of more than 47 million euros in 2017. The Higher Regional Court later overturned this judgment.
More: More money from doctors and pharmacists – Apobank wants to double the volume of its deposits within five years