FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - A U.S. court rejected racketeering claims Vivendi SA brought against Deutsche Telekom AG. as part of a row over Polish PTC, according to a statement by the German telecommunications giant.
The U.S. District Court in Seattle said that Vivendi is merely 'forum shopping' to achieve a ruling in its management's favour.
'An examination of the record reveals that Vivendi has sought relief in numerous courts for the alleged theft of the PTC shares and, when it is not satisfied with the results in a particular forum, if finds a different forum and files a new lawsuit or arbitration hoping to obtain a different result,' Deutsche Telekom cited the court as saying.
'This court is just the latest stop on Vivendi's world-wide search to find a court to rule in its favour.'
Vivendi and Deutsche Telekom have been battling it out in courts over ownership of 48 pct of PTC.
Vivendi claims the shareholding belongs to Telco, a joint venture between Vivendi and Elektrim.
However Deutsche Telekom, whose ownership of a separate 49 pct of PTC is unchallenged, also claims the stake and also fully consolidates PTC in its accounts. maria.sheahan@thomsonreuters.com mas/rw COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
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