Kirch sues Deutsche Bank and Liberty

net1

German media mogul Leo Kirch, who saw his media empire collapse in 2002, is suing Deutsche Bank and US cable group Liberty Media in the United States, alleging that they conspired to destroy his company. The move threatens to embroil Germany's biggest bank in further legal battles as its chief faces trial over his role in the Vodafone takeover of Mannesmann in 2000. A Munich court has already ruled that Deutsche must pay Kirch damages for talking publicly about the state of his firm's finances weeks before it collapsed in April 2002. Deutsche is seeking the right to appeal that verdict.
Kirch filed his suit on Wednesday at the New York State Supreme Court, law firm Lowenstein Sandler said in a statement. "We believe the plan was clear: Deutsche and Liberty conspired to cut off the Kirch Group's financing and then carve up the spoils," Lowenstein Sandler partner Lawrence Rolnick said.
Kirch's lawyers say that Deutsche Bank and its supervisory board chairman Rolf Breuer conspired with Liberty Media and its chairman John Malone to force the breakup of the Kirch Group to help Liberty gain control of Germany's cable TV market.