'Late low ball': Lawyer slams Deutsche Bank settlement offer in long-running Postbank suit

A lawyer representing plaintiffs in a long-running case against Deutsche Bank on Friday slammed a proposed settlement from the German lender as a "late low ball" offer.

The crux of the challenge against Deutsche Bank is that it underpaid for its acquisition of German retail banking giant Postbank in the late 2000s.

Legal action over the multistage deal has been rumbling on since 2010. Claimants number in the hundreds in total, with various suits in process from both institutional and private investors.

Deutsche Bank on Thursday afternoon offered claimants a settlement of 36.50 euros ($40.12) per Postbank share, Jan Bayer, senior partner at the law firm Bayer Krauss Hueber, told CNBC. Claimants have until Monday to respond.

The news was first reported by Reuters on Friday.

A hearing on the Postbank case is due to take placeat the Higher Regional Court in Cologne, Germany, on Wednesday.

"This tactic (a late low ball roll-over offer) has been planned for months despite statements of the bank to the contrary and our warning months ago that it bears the risk of not working," Bayertold CNBC by email.

He added that the offer was subject to acceptance by all claimants, one of whom had already rejected it. This implies that the settlement deal is unlikely to go through, unless conditions change.

"The bank's goal of avoiding the court decision on Wednesday is doomed, and any settlement seems remote," Bayer said, adding that the timing of an "unannounced offer ... in the middle of the holiday season" meant the law firm was not even certain it could contact all claimants by the deadline.

Bayer Krauss Hueber is representing around 50 predominantly institutional claimants in various proceedings surrounding the case, who Bayer saidare making