Politics
CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA: When the Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure dreams of big Money
Following the unilateral termination of the operating agreement regarding the infrastructure levies with effect as of September 30th, 2019, by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, autoTicket GmbH, which is a 50/50 joint venture of Kapsch TrafficCom AG and CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA, and its two shareholders decided in December that the contractually agreed payment claims against the Federal Republic of Germany amount to approximately 560m EUR and to assert claims.
These claims are based on the assumption that autoTicket GmbH and its shareholders Kapsch TrafficCom AG and CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA have a compensation claim due to the early termination of the agreement by the Federal Republic of Germany, equal to the loss of profits over the term of the agreement. Also, the agreement provides for compensation of the costs arising from the termination of the agreement which includes compensation claims of subcontractors, including Kapsch TrafficCom AG and CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA, as well as some of their affiliated companies.
The agreement provides for an efficient procedure for dispute resolutions: First, an independent auditor shall validate the amount of the asserted loss of profits. Thereafter, settlement negotiations with the Federal Republic of Germany are contemplated. In the event of failure of this procedure, the claim will be finally decided in arbitration.