Thirty-seven Ericsson shareholders are suing the Swedish telecom company for a total of 1.8 billion Swedish kronor ($170 million, or 14.05 billion rupees), business daily Industri reported on Friday, saying its chief executive’s disclosure of activities in Iraq led to a The company’s share price fell.
Ericsson and Chief Executive Boerje Ekholm came under heavy criticism last year for their handling of an internal investigation into the company’s operations in Iraq and a scandal involving possible payments to the Islamic State.
Shareholders, including several investment companies and pension funds, have filed separate lawsuits in Swedish courts, but their actions have been coordinated, the newspaper reported.
“Ericsson contests the allegations in their entirety and intends to vigorously defend itself in this matter, which is unprecedented in Swedish litigation and violates fundamental principles of Swedish company law,” the company said in an emailed statement. in principle.”
The Swedish court did not respond to a request for comment after hours.
Shareholders are demanding compensation for Ericsson’s sharp share price drop since February 16, 2022, after the newspaper published information disclosed by Ericsson CEO Ekholm in an interview for an internal report on the company’s activities in Iraq, the Industrial Daily said. Case. Shares have since halved to 52.71 crowns on Friday.
In May, Nasdaq in Stockholm concluded a review of the company’s public disclosures about the report.
It found that it “could not conclude that the contents of the report were such that a reasonable investor would use such information as part of his investment decisions.”
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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