Atrium sues Austrian banker Meinl for €2 bln

Atrium European Real Estate is suing its founder, Austrian coffee roasting heir Julius Meinl V, and his bank for over 2 bln euros in damages, it said on Wednesday.
The surprise claims come two years after a group led by Israeli investor Gazit Globe struck a deal with Meinl under which it took over control of Atrium, then known as Meinl European Land, a developer of shopping malls in emerging Europe.
The claims, which Atrium said it will pursue in the English High Court, are also brought against Meinl Bank's CEO, former managers of Meinl Land, and other companies controlled by Julius Meinl, Atrium said in a statement.
"The claim is for … loss and damage suffered by the company in connection with actions relating to the former management," Atrium said in a statement, without elaborating on the nature of the damages.
A Meinl Bank spokesman rejected the charges and said they were "absurd and populistic".
Julius Meinl is still being investigated by Austrian prosecutors who suspect that he defrauded Meinl Land shareholders. He was arrested in April 2009 and is still on a record 100 mln euro bail. No charges have been brought yet.
The alleged fraud is related to a 1.8 bln euro secret share buyback which Meinl Land did in 2007 while vehicles close to Julius Meinl and his family were selling shares in the market, according to a report by Austria's central bank.
The Meinl family started selling coffee beans in Vienna in 1862, building a retail network that became a leading grocery chain in the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Julius V, the fifth-generation family head, turned banking into the family's main business, selling off the retail chain except for an upscale deli in the centre of Vienna.
He used property acquired when he was still running supermarkets as the starting point for Meinl Land, which became a shopping mall developer in emerging Europe.