Czech Constitutional Court rejects Telefónica's complaint in Czech Telecom share dispute

The Czech Constitutional Court has rejected a complaint from the Spanish company Telefónica regarding a verdict requiring the firm to pay approximately 849 million CZK plus interest to two Cypriot companies. The case stems from a long-standing dispute over the fair price of shares in the former Czech Telecom.

The companies involved, Lexburg Enterprises Limited and Venten Management Limited, are reportedly part of entrepreneur Pavel Tykač’s portfolio. The dispute originated from Telefónica’s 2005 acquisition of a majority stake in Czech Telecom. While Telefónica offered 456 CZK per share to remaining shareholders, it paid approximately 502 CZK per share to the state for its majority stake. The plaintiffs sought the difference in price plus interest.

Telefónica challenged the Supreme Court’s previous handling of the case and the methodology used by revision experts, arguing that the courts retroactively disregarded rules established during the privatization over 20 years ago. The Constitutional Court ruled that the brevity of the Supreme Court’s reasoning did not constitute unconstitutionality and upheld the previous decision.