Deutsche Bank is now threatened with an additional payment worth billions to the former shareholders of Postbank. The Cologne Higher Regional Court (OLG) indicated in an oral hearing on Friday that Postbank shareholders could have been entitled to a higher price when Deutsche Bank took over Postbank 14 years ago. said the largest German bank. The maximum amount Postbank shareholders are entitled to, including interest accrued since 2010, is around 1.3 billion euros. “In its statements, the court indicated that it could find parts of these claims to be justified in a later decision,” Deutsche Bank said in a statement.
The institute will therefore make a provision for the lawsuit in the second quarter, even if it “continues to strongly” consider the plaintiffs’ view to be wrong. So far, it had not made any provisions after the plaintiffs failed twice before the Higher Regional Court. But now the tide could be turning. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) sent the case back to Cologne in December 2022.
The amount of the provision is still unclear
The bank explained how high the provision will actually be. If the entire 1.3 billion euros had to be budgeted for this, this would decimate the common equity Tier 1 capital ratio by 0.2 percentage points. At the end of March it was 13.45 percent. This does not change the strategic or financial goals.
The legal dispute over the takeover of Postbank has been simmering for more than a decade. Deutsche Bank acquired the private customer bank from Post in several steps. 16 Postbank shareholders felt they had been left out short and went to court. They had accepted the takeover offer for 25 euros per share, but now want to get 57.25 euros.
They argue that Deutsche Bank should have made a mandatory offer two years earlier after it bought 29.75 percent of Postbank from Deutsche Post – for 57.25 euros per share. This means that it deliberately stayed below the 30 percent mark, above which a mandatory offer to all shareholders is due. What is controversial, however, is whether Deutsche Bank had de facto access to its remaining share before 2010 through its later agreements with Post.