Amsterdam Court Rejects Massive Claims of Shell and Repsol
Orbia Advance Corporation, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: ORBIA*) (“the Company” or “Orbia”) today announced that yesterday, the Amsterdam District Court dismissed two major lawsuits against Orbia and its Vestolit GmbH affiliate (“Vestolit”) in the Dutch Ethylene Damages Litigation. The court issued rulings in two cases—one brought by a Dutch Stichting (foundation) representing three Spanish and Portuguese Repsol entities (“Repsol”) and another by Shell Chemicals Europe (“Shell”)—which claimed over a billion euros in damages.
These rulings dismiss the first two of 13 lawsuits brought by oil and/or petrochemical giants like Shell seeking damages in litigation stemming from a 2020 settlement with the European Union (EU) Commission. In the Repsol case, the court found that it was not “plausible” that the conduct at issue caused harm to Repsol. In the Shell case, the court similarly found that Shell had failed to demonstrate harm. Both cases have been dismissed.
Orbia and Vestolit are encouraged that the court carefully reviewed the facts and evidence and found that the plaintiffs, representing some of the largest and most sophisticated companies in the world, were not harmed. The court found on the contrary that, "[t]he significant increase in steam cracker margins also indicates that the (profit) margins of ethylene suppliers rose significantly during the period [at issue]. This also suggests that the [defendants’ conduct] had no effect...” (judgment para. 12.40.10).
