| Former Adidas boss wins 135 million euros from Credit Lyonnais |
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PARIS - Bernard Tapie, the former owner of sportswear giant Adidas' has won his appeal against formerly state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais that was ordered to pay him 135 million euros ($163 million) as compensation for unfair business practices.
An appeals court in France ruled in favor of Tapie over the 1994 sale of Adidas. Tapie had agreed to sell his firm via Credit Lyonnais for an amount said to be 400 million euros. However, the bank had secretly agreed to sell Adidas to another businessman fro a much higher price two years later. This resulted in millions of dollars of profits to the bank as a result of this deal.
Mr. Tapie argued that had he known about the bank's unholy intentions, he would directly have dealt with the businessman. The court agreed with Tapie's argument and ordered the bank to pay 135 million euros as compensation. "Justice has recognized that I was robbed. What is important is not the money. It is the fact that the ruling states clearly that Credit Lyonnais did something indefensible and robbed me,” Mr. Tapie commented after the ruling.
He has been something of a maverick and was the chief of the Olympic Marseille football club at one point and was a in a ministerial post under former French President Francois Mitterrand. He ran into some bad luck later and was imprisoned for seven months on charges of match fixing and corruption. After his release, Tapie started on a career as a chat show host.
However, despite winning this appeal, Tapie must still answer tax fraud claims in the coming weeks. He also has to surrender almost 80 percent of his total income to pay off the debts taken on by his companies. Credit Lyonnais refused to comment on the Adidas judgment.
Posted
on : Sun, 02 Oct 2005 06:50 GMT | Business News
By : Mark Richardson
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