Telecom process: shareholders should be compensated

Status: 11/23/2021 2:34 p.m.

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In the legal dispute over the IPO of Deutsche Telekom, around 16,000 plaintiffs are offered a settlement. The Frankfurt Higher Regional Court today approved a corresponding proposal.

After almost 20 years, Deutsche Telekom is approaching a solution with the plaintiffs in the legal dispute over its third IPO. The Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main today approved the proposal for a settlement. The DAX group could face expenses in the three-digit million range.

Should the plaintiffs accept the settlement, they will get back the purchase price paid in 2000, minus the dividends paid out since then and the approximate current market value. On the other hand, 70 percent of the usual litigation interest is added. The shares then remain in the possession of the investors. The plaintiffs should receive the offer by the end of July next year and can then decide whether to accept it.

Crash of the “people’s share”

Deutsche Telekom went public in 1996. Because of the great demand, the telecommunications company carried out a second share placement in 1999 and a third in 2000. The paper came onto the market in June 2000 at a starting price of EUR 66.50, the record high of EUR 103.50 a few months ago. After the third placement, the T-Share fell further and further and slipped below the mark of ten euros.

Around 16,000 small shareholders felt misled at the time and had filed lawsuits with the Frankfurt Regional Court since 2001; since then the legal dispute has dragged on. According to her, her exchange rate losses totaled around 80 million euros.

The test case is still not final

The recapitulative model procedure has not yet been legally concluded. At the beginning of this year, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) again partially overturned the model decision of the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court and referred it back for renegotiation. However, the BGH found a serious error in the sales prospectus for the share. The presiding judge in Frankfurt, Bernhard Seyderhelm, called on the plaintiffs to accept the settlement.