Vivendi Plans to Appeal US Court Decision on PTC Case
PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Entertainment and telecoms company Vivendi, Friday said it would appeal a decision by a District Court in the U.S. state of Washington that rejected its claim against Deutsche Telekom in the case regarding Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC).
"We intend to appeal, as this decision seems unfounded to us," a spokeswoman for Vivendi said.
The reason for the court's rejection was "forum non conveniens," meaning that it refused to take jurisdiction over the matter as it didn't consider itself the most appropriate forum for the case, the spokeswoman said.
The dispute involves a 48% stake in PTC, formerly owned by Polish conglomerate Elektrim, which Deutsche Telekom bought in October 2006.
However, Vivendi regards the deal as illegal, arguing the stake was lawfully owned by Telco, a joint venture controlled by Vivendi.
According to Deutsche Telekom, the U.S. court said that "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, it finds a different forum and files a new lawsuit or arbitration hoping to obtain a different result."
The court also said, that it was "just the latest stop on Vivendi SA's worldwide search to find a court to rule in its favor."
-By Jethro Mullen and Archibald Preuschat, Dow Jones Newswires; 33 1 4017 1738; jethro.mullen@dowjones.com
(Archibald Preuschat in Frankfurt contributed to this report.)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Posted to the site on 7th June 2008
