BONN (dpa-AFX) - In a billion-dollar legal dispute with a small competitor, Deutsche Post has rejected the allegations. "We consider this alleged violation of competition and postal law to be fundamentally unfounded," said Post CEO Tobias Meyer at his company's annual general meeting in Bonn. With regard to Deutsche Post AG, he added: "We will protect the company's assets, and we will not shy away from disputes – whether here in public or in court."
The case concerns a lawsuit filed in 2021 at the Düsseldorf Regional Court by the Ratingen-based letter competitor Deutscher Versand Service (DVS), which accuses Deutsche Post of years of price dumping: The Bonn-based market leader allegedly declared certain shipments as advertising mail (Dialogpost) even though they were not advertising mail. These included offers, changes to terms and conditions, and invitations to annual general meetings. From 2020 onwards, Deutsche Post claims that it only transported pure advertising.
Under the Dialogpost label, Deutsche Post had charged too low prices, which meant that DVS did not receive any orders. Recently, an investor who claims to be a shareholder in DVS and also holds shares in Deutsche Post sent a letter to the executive board and supervisory board of the Bonn-based logistics company accusing them of mistakes.
CEO Meyer strongly disagrees, saying the accusations are unfounded and completely inaccurate. "This legal dispute is about alleged damages of 978 million euros plus interest," the Bonn-based manager told shareholders.
According to Meyer, this "spectacular sum" is completely exaggerated. DVS claims that its business would have performed many times better if Deutsche Post had acted differently. However, although Deutsche Post changed its prices in 2020, DVS's sales did not accelerate – "the opposite is true," said Meyer. The Bonn-based group is still called Deutsche Post on the stock exchange, but in everyday business it now calls itself DHL./wdw/DP/jha
