FRANKFURT – Deutsche Bank says it will pay 775 million euros ($1.1 billion) plus interest and legal fees to settle a long-running dispute with the heirs of media mogul Leo Kirch.
Kirch had accused the bank’s former CEO Rolf Breuer of contributing to the eventual bankruptcy of his media group in a February 2002 television interview by implying that banks would not lend it any more money. Kirch died in 2011.
Deutsche Bank’s board rejected a settlement in 2012. Current co-CEOs Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain said Thursday it was now in the bank’s best interest to put the matter behind it.
The settlement means a deduction to fourth-quarter earnings of 350 million euros, as the bank had already accounted for part of the costs of the case.
