FRANKFURT (Dow Jones) -- A group of international investment
funds said Saturday that it filed a lawsuit against Porsche
Automobil Holding SE (PAH3.XE) at the district court in Stuttgart,
Germany, as the plaintiffs seek to recover around EUR2 billion
($2.59 billion) in losses related to the sportscar maker's attempt
to take over Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) in 2008.
The investment funds said in a statement that Porsche "gained
control over the price of VW common stock as it secretly built
enormous derivative positions covering almost all of VW's freely
traded shares" and reaped a huge profit when the stock temporarily
skyrocketed above EUR1,000 a share at the time.
A spokeswoman for the funds said the plaintiffs are Elliott
Associates L.P., Elliott International L.P., The Liverpool Limited
Partnership, Perry Partners L.P., Perry Partners International
Inc., DE Shaw Valence International Inc. and York Capital
Management Europe UK Advisors LLP. The funds are represented in
Germany by Broich Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwaelten.
A spokesman for Porsche said the company regards the allegations
as unfounded.
The district court in Stuttgart couldn't be reached for comment
on Saturday.
The plaintiffs said they also filed an arbitration application
regarding Volkswagen, two members of the VW supervisory board and
one member of VW's management board.
Some of the plaintiffs are part of a group of investment funds
that already filed a similar lawsuit at a New York court over
alleged market manipulation at Porsche when the Stuttgart-based
firm built its 51% stake in Volkswagen and acquired complex stock
options to take over full control of its much-larger peer.
Porsche's bold move, however, backfired badly when credit
markets tightened during the financial crisis and the company had
to agree to a tie-up under Volkswagen's leadership amid ballooning
debt. Porsche raised around EUR4.9 billion in a capital increase in
April to cut debt below EUR1.5 billion ahead of the planned
deal.
Volkswagen and Porsche decided in September to delay their
initial merger plan due to the persistent legal uncertainties and
look into possible alternatives. The two automakers initially aimed
to get shareholder approval by the end of 2011.
Earlier this year, a group of investors filed a similar lawsuit
at a regional court in Braunschweig, Germany. Additionally, public
prosecutors are looking into allegations on market manipulation as
well. Investigations are ongoing and it is uncertain when these
legal issues can be resolved.
-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512;
christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com