Ericsson Sued by 37 Shareholders for $170 Million: Report

Thirty-seven Ericsson shareholders are suing the Swedish telecoms firm for a mixed 1.8 billion Swedish crowns ($170 million or roughly Rs. 1,405 crore), saying its CEO’s disclosure of actions in Iraq depressed the inventory, enterprise every day Dagens Industri reported on Friday.

Ericsson and CEO Boerje Ekholm have been criticised closely up to now yr for his or her dealing with of an inside probe into the corporate’s operations in Iraq and a scandal involving potential funds to the Islamic State.

The shareholders, together with a number of funding corporations and pension funds, have filed separate lawsuits with a Swedish court docket however their actions are coordinated, the paper reported.

“Ericsson disputes the claims in their entirety and intends to defend itself vigorously in this matter, which is unprecedented in Swedish litigation and contrary to fundamental principles of Swedish corporate law,” the corporate stated in an emailed assertion.

The Swedish court docket didn’t reply after enterprise hours to a request for remark.

Dagens Industri stated the shareholders are demanding compensation for a pointy drop in Ericsson shares since February 16, 2022, after the paper printed CEO Ekholm’s disclosure in an interview of an inside report about firm actions in Iraq. The share value has halved since then to 52.71 crowns on Friday.

In May this yr, Nasdaq Stockholm concluded a overview of the corporate’s public disclosures regarding the report.

It discovered that it “cannot come to the conclusion that the content of the report was such that a reasonable investor would have used such information as part of his/her investment decision.” 

© Thomson Reuters 2023