German court rules against Deutsche Bank in Postbank acquisition lawsuit

Cologne's higher regional court on Wednesday ruled against Deutsche Bank in a long-standing legal dispute with shareholders who alleged the lender underpaid in its multi-stage acquisition of German retail bank Postbank.

The 13 plaintiffs in the case claimed that Postbank, which Deutsche Bank acquired over several interest purchases from Deutsche Post, was worth more than the 25 euros ($27) per share paid in 2010.

The investors, 13 plaintiffs who are former shareholders of Deutsche Postbank (Postbank), instead held they were entitled to a significantly higher payment of 57.25 euro per share — the price at which Deutsche Bank bought its initial 30% stake in Postbank, mere days before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the kickoff of the global financial crisis, which waylaid the takeover.

Deutsche Bank and Postbank finally merged in 2018.

Legal suits linked to the transaction have cast a long shadow over the financial prospects of Deutsche Bank, dampening its performance as recently as in the second quarter — when the lender ended its 15-quarter profit streak and booked a loss of 143 million euros on the back of a 1.3-billion-euros provision linked to the Postbank proceeding.

Deutsche Bank later reached settlements with nearly 60% of plaintiffs in the case in August.

Earlier in the Wednesday session, the lender reported the release of 440 million euros of litigation provisions in the third quarter, which helped it swing back to a better-than-expected net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.46 billion euros ($1.58 billion) over the period.

Deutsche Bank said it will now analyze the Wednesday judgement and noted it has booked provisions covering all outstanding claims by the plaintiffs, including interest accrued to date.

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