iNSiGht - Intro

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insight corporate Governance Germany
Kaufhof negotiations surprisingly broken off
Metro has cancelled the sale negotiations for the Kaufhof
department stores until further notice. The difficult
situation on the financial markets does not offer suitable
conditions for a transaction, said Metro CEO Olaf Koch
on 17 January. Three investors had indeed submitted bids
for the department-store chain, but fears that financing
could end up causing problems for one of the potential
buyers were decisive for the decision. Finally, the tra-
t A dispute ongoing for over two years between
104 former London investment bankers at Dresdner
Bank and the partly nationalized Commerzbank
is about compensation claims from the year 2008
in the amount of €52 million. The investment ban-
kers insist that the former head of investment bank
Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Stefan Jentzsch, had
publicly promised the compensation that year. The
process commenced on 23 January with preliminary
hearings before the London High Court. The actual
trial began on 25 January and is scheduled until 17
February.
Actions Corner
t The hedge funds Kingate Global and Kingate
Euro Fund have sued a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank
in New York over a dispute over billions in claims
against Bernard Madoff. The bank was allegedly delaying
the implementation of an agreement on 24
August to buy their rights to compensation in the
financial fraud. The funds accuse Germany’s biggest
bank of not wanting to transfer the amount because
it now thinks the price is too high. The bank was
awaiting certain documents for the processing of
the transaction, according to a spokesman. Madoff’s
Ponzi scheme broke down amidst the financial crisis.
t Madeleine Schickedanz has sued Sal. Oppenheim
and its real-estate partner Joseph Esch for more
than two billion euros in damages. A corresponding
draft claim against the financial advisers and twelve
other persons and companies has been attached
to an application to Cologne Higher Regional Court
to establish jurisdiction, Schickedanz’s lawyer Peter
Rath said on 19 January. The Quelle heiress was also
companies
de group had negotiated with Rene Benko and Nicolas
Berggruen. The bid by the Austrian Benko through the
real-estate holding company Signa is supposed to have
ultimately amounted to over two billion euros. Berggruen
according to the Börsenzeitung offered less than
two billion euros. Hiving off Kaufhof has for many years
been seen as a desire of the Düsseldorf company, but
had in the meantime been repeatedly rejected.
asking for refund of loan repayments already made
totalling more than €200 million. A spokesman for
the Cologne-based bank, since acquired by Deutsche
Bank, said the damage claims were “incomprehensible”.
t The EU Commission on 25 January instructed
Deutsche Post to repay an amount of 500 million
to one billion euros to the German Federal Treasury.
The group had collected unfair State aid for price
approvals and received subsidies for public-sector
pensions, which it should now refund. The aid had
procured it advantages over its private competitors,
said Joaquín Almunia. Frank Appel was, however,
optimistic he could overturn the decision in court,
like earlier decisions taken by Europe’s competition
watchdogs. Deutsche Post announced it would file
an appeal with the European Court of Justice.
t Frankfurt Higher Regional Court will announce its
decision in the damages case against Deutsche Telekom
on 25 April, Judge Birgitta Schier-Ammann
said on 25 January. The Court finds that the investors
should have sought advice on Telekom’s initial public
issue 02/2012 06