Apparently the litigation following the 1998 — yes, 1998 — combination of Daimler-Benz AG with Chrysler Corp. will never end. The AP reports that in Stuttgart, Germany, former DaimlerChrysler AG CEO Juergen Schrempp was back on the witness stand rejecting allegations that the deal he oversaw to create DaimlerChrysler in 1998 undervalued his company’s shares.
Schrempp’s testimony was part of the latest hearing of a suit by former shareholders over the 1998 combination of Daimler-Benz AG with Chrysler Corp. The AP reports that in 2006, a Stuttgart court ordered DaimlerChrysler to pay a group of 16 investors 22.15 euros ($29.72) per share to resolve the dispute over the valuation of their stock, for a total payout of 232.6 million euros ($312 million).
DaimlerChrysler appealed, taking the case to the higher Stuttgart court.
Many other cases resulting from the combination, including a securities class action settled for $300 million and the high-profile trial involving Kirk Kerkorian (in which DaimlerChrysler prevailed), have previously been resolved.
