Porsche Welcomes German Court Ruling in Volkswagen, Porsche Merger Suit

By Nicky Redl

FRANKFURT--Porsche Automobil Holding SE (PAH3.XE) has welcomed a German court ruling, which rejects two claims by investors over Porsche's ill-fated attempt to take over much-larger Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE).

"Porsche SE welcomes the first-instance Regional Court of Braunschweig's judgments, and considers that its legal opinion has been vindicated," the company said in a statement.

One of the rejected claims was for 3.11 million euro ($4.05 million) by an investor and another by an investment company for the amount of EUR1.57 million.

The plaintiffs alleged that Porsche made a misleading press statement in March 2008 regarding its true intentions in the matter, and thereby manipulated the VW share price.

"Porsche SE believes the damage claims filed by various speculators to be without merit and considers the claims pending in the USA to be legally insufficient and without merit," Porsche said.

Several institutional investors in Germany and the U.S. have filed lawsuits seeking damage claims worth billions of euros in total for alleged market manipulation during the takeover attempt. Porsche's move backfired in 2009 when credit markets dried up during the financial crisis, which triggered huge swings in VW stock and led to the departure of Porsche's previous management.

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