A German court today ordered DaimlerChrysler to pay €232 million (£159m) in compensation to former shareholders of Daimler-Benz after finding their stakes were undervalued in the merger of the German company with America’s Chrysler.
The district court of Stuttgart ordered DaimlerChrysler to pay €22.15 in cash per share to holders of around 10.5 million shares.
DaimlerChrysler said it would appeal today’s ruling, arguing there was no justification in awarding compensation. It had opposed an earlier proposal that it settle the case by paying the investors an extra €19 a share.
The move follows Daimler-Benz’s decision to force some of its shareholders to exchange their stakes in the carmaker for equity in the merged DaimlerChrysler in 1998.
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The takeover of Chrysler by Daimler was officially presented as a “merger of equals”. However, shareholders on either side have since disagreed and filed complaints against the terms of the deal.
Seventeen shareholders appealed against the terms of the deal, which they argued did not value their shares fairly.
Shares in DaimlerChrysler were down 0.6 per cent at €41.17.