LANDMARK SUIT AGAINST DEUTSCHE TELEKOM.

• Position: Brief Article

One of the largest civil lawsuits in Germanys history was brought before the Frankfurt (West) court on November 23, pitting Deutsche Telekom against more than 14,000 small shareholders that are demanding some Euro 100 million in damages and interest for the shares stock-market slide. The small holders accuse the telecoms group of misleading them ahead of the third share offering in June 2000. They claim that Deutsche Telekom overstated the value of its real estate portfolio and failed to inform them of the plan to buy US mobile phone operator VoiceStream for US$40 million (Euro 30.6 million), announced a month later. The group argues that external factors such as the bursting of the internet and telecoms bubble are responsible for driving the share down.

On trial, here, are the excesses of the telecoms sector at the end of the 90s, experts say. At that time, Deutsche...