Deutsche Bank strikes deal with Postbank ex-shareholders

A bird flies close to Deutsche Bank building with the bank’s logo in the banking district in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on April 10, 2024. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Updated on August 22, 2024 at 2:38 p.m.

Berlin, Germany — Deutsche Bank said Wednesday it had settled a dispute with dozens of former shareholders of Postbank who began litigation alleging the German banking giant’s 2010 takeover shortchanged them.

Deutsche Bank said it reached agreements with “more than 80 plaintiffs representing almost 60 percent of the total claims in the litigation” based on a proposal of 31 euros ($34) per share.

Among the plaintiffs who agreed to settle was the largest single individual who represented “around one-third of all the claims”, the bank said in a statement.

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Deutsche Bank expects the agreements reached so far will take up about 45 percent of the provisions that it set aside to reach settlements with these plaintiffs, with the bank estimating the positive impact on its third-quarter operating profit at 430 million euros.

The former shareholders launched their complaint saying Deutsche Bank’s takeover of Postbank undervalued their shares when they were bought at 25 euros each.

A Cologne tribunal indicated in April that some of the claims could be vindicated, leading Deutsche Bank to intensify discussions with the former Postbank shareholders.

The litigation provision dragged Deutsche Bank to its first quarterly loss in four years in the second quarter of 2024.