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Daimler hit with EADS insider trading charges

French judges have charged the German auto giant Daimler in an insider trading scandal centring on the European defence group EADS, a judicial official said Thursday.

Daimler hit with EADS insider trading charges
Photo: DPA

Investigating judges are charging Daimler, a key shareholder in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), with insider trading in a high-profile case relating to the sale of EADS shares in 2005 and 2006, the official, who asked not to be named, told news agency AFP.

Daimler called the charges “very unusual” and “hardly comprehensible.”

Daimler sold a 7.5 percent stake of EADS in April 2006. Two months later the group’s star company, plane maker Airbus, announced a major delay to deliveries of its A380 passenger jet, which dragged EADS share prices down.

Major French media and defence company Lagardere has also been charged in the case after selling a 7.5 percent stake in EADS at the same time.

Former EADS co-chairman Noel Forgeard and senior Airbus executive John Leahy are among several top managers charged in the scandal which broke in 2008. They have denied any wrongdoing.

Forgeard stepped down in July 2006 amid mounting pressure over the A380 delays and his decision to exercise share options earlier in the year.

On Thursday, Daimler noted that the French financial markets watchdog, the Autorité des marchés financiers, had looked into the matter regarding EADS early last year and found the German group had committed no violations.

Daimler said it was “confident this affair will also have a favourable outcome” for the group.

Daimler, owner of Mercedes Benz, makes luxury cars and is the world leader in heavy truck manufacturing.

In Berlin Wednesday, the government said it would host a meeting on the future of EADS on February 23, amid reports that Daimler wanted to sell its remaining 15 percent stake.

Daimler holds 15 percent of EADS and 22.5 percent of its voting rights, but appears to be preparing its exit.

The firm could even get rid of its holdings this year, the Financial Times Deutschland has reported.

AFP/The Local/adn

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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