Deustche Bank has emerged victorious in two pending court cases regarding the proposed acquisition bid for its retail banking arm Deutsche Postbank.
Former shareholders of Postbank sued Deutsche Bank for the price it offered for the retail bank when it was acquired in October 2010.
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In total, Deutsche Bank spent over €6bn to buy Postbank.
Background
Deutsche Bank agreed to buy certain stakes in Postbank in September 2008 from Deutsche Post.
Later, it renegotiated the deal in January 2009, following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings that led to financial markets turmoil.
Under the German takeover law, if an investor acquires 30% in a company, it can make a mandatory takeover offer.
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By GlobalDataOn 7 October 2010, Deutsche Bank made the mandatory takeover offer required under this law and offered to pay €25 ($30.50) per share to acquire Postbank.
As a result, its investor Effecten-Spiegel filed a lawsuit in Frankfurt Regional Court, stating that the share price in the mandatory takeover offer for Postbank was too low.
The investor said that Deutsche Bank should have made the offer in H1 2009 and paid €49.52 per share instead of the €25 it offered.
Dismissal of lawsuits
In separate pending cases, the claimants were seeking €53m ($67m), while the investors were actively looking to get payouts of €700m ($903m) in additional compensation.
However, the 13th Civil Senate of the Higher Regional Court of Cologne decided to dismiss the lawsuits against Deutsche Bank in full.
The Cologne appeals court said that the price of €25 per share offered by the Frankfurt-based lender was adequate as the banks were not “acting in concert”.
The claimants argued that Deutsche Bank bought a tad under 30% stake at a higher price and took control of Postbank in 2008.
The court ruled against this argument citing lack of evidence.
The investors and the plaintiffs can appeal the ruling at the Federal Supreme Court.
