NY Times – A New York State appeals court dismissed a lawsuit brought by hedge funds against Porsche on Thursday, handing the German automaker a big victory in the long-running legal battle over its attempted takeover of Volkswagen.
The Appellate Division decided that the hedge funds lacked jurisdiction to bring a lawsuit in a New York State court, ruling that there was an inadequate connection between New York and the facts of the case. The opinion reverses a trial court ruling last summer that had upheld the action. The decision also mirrors a federal court ruling two years ago that rejected the hedge funds’ claim.
“The only alleged connections between the action and New York are the phone calls between plaintiffs in New York and a representative of defendant in Germany, and the e-mails sent to plaintiffs in New York but generally disseminated to parties elsewhere,” said the brief opinion. “We find that these connections failed to create a substantial nexus with New York, given that the events of the underlying transaction otherwise occurred entirely in a foreign jurisdiction.”
