A long-standing Legal dispute of Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines (AUA) with the investor Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber could prove expensive for the domestic airline, reported the Salzburg News am Sonntag Online. According to this, AUA is now ready to settle with Al Jaber.
According to the newspaper, it is assumed that AUA will have to put at least a mid-double-digit million sum on the table to settle the matter. This does not include high legal and procedural costs. The appeal process at the Higher Regional Court alone cost 1.345 million euros.
Possible entry at AUA
The legal dispute dates back to 2008: Before the Austrian airline was sold to the German Lufthansa in an emergency sale with a dowry of 500 million euros, negotiations had been held with the Saudi Arabian-Austrian businessman Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber about a stake in AUA. His JJW group of companies was to receive 20 percent of AUA for 150 million euros. However, it turned out that AUA was not rehabilitated, but was financially struggling – and Al Jaber turned it down.
AUA then sued the sheikh for damages. At that time, he was already involved in further shareholding negotiations and legal disputes in Austria. He responded with a counterclaim.
The Vienna Commercial Court ruled in April 2023 that Al Jaber’s withdrawal from the participation agreement was justified. According to the court, a former AUA board member had deliberately withheld figures and misled Al Jaber. Instead of a profit of EUR 3.3 million – as forecast – a loss of more than EUR 200 million was foreseeable. According to the commercial court, the board also violated the ad hoc reporting obligations.
Settlement negotiations
In January this year, the Vienna Higher Regional Court rejected AUA’s appeal against the first instance ruling. The investor then announced high claims for damages. Austrian Airlines has not filed any further appeals against the ruling of the Vienna Higher Regional Court. Instead, the Austrian Lufthansa subsidiary is pursuing settlement negotiations at the highest AUA level and with the involvement of the parent company. The fact that this is now being sought is a credit to the new AUA board and its boss Annette Mann, noted the SN.
According to SN, both parties do not want to comment on the talks. An AUA spokeswoman also declined to comment to APA. The sheikh’s communications agency was not available for comment on Sunday.