Scor hits back at Covéa’s ‘deceitful’ complaints against Kessler

Scor said it is “astonished” by Covéa’s “deceitful and groundless” complaint filed against chairman and CEO Denis Kessler for market manipulation and misuse of corporate assets. The complaint was filed by Scor’s largest shareholder to the Parquet National Financier and is the latest development in a bloody battle between the two companies since Covéa tried to buy the reinsurer back in 2018. Covéa’s complaint covers actions between September 2018 and January 2019 when it alleges that Mr Kessler issues a “massive” €195m buyback of Scor’s shares for the sole purpose of artificially inflating the company’s share price. It also complains about €16m of advisory expenses incurred by Scor to counter what Covéa described as its “imaginary takeover” of the reinsurer. It claims these expenses came despite the fact Covéa had withdrawn its proposition on 4 September 2018. Scor said it was stunned by Covéa’s latest move and questioned why the insurer filed the complaint more than two years after it became aware of the information used to support the claims. “The facts mentioned by Covéa in its press release, namely the expenses that Scor was obliged to incur to defend itself against Covéa's unsolicited takeover attempt on Scor in 2018, as well as the extra costs incurred by Scor in connection with the implementation of its share buy-back programme, are perfectly justified and legitimate, and are in no way new revelations,” said the reinsurer in its robust statement. Scor said the expenses were made clear in its proceedings against former Scor director Thierry Derez and Covéa for compensation related to damage caused by the attempted takeover. The Paris Commercial Court ordered Mr Derez and Covéa to pay almost €20m in November for misconduct during the saga. Scor said this week that Covéa is therefore “complaining about the consequences of its own misconduct and that of Thierry Derez”. And it finds the allegation of market manipulation “just as surprising”. “Scor’s share buy-back programme, of €200m over two years, was announced to the market by Scor on July 27, 2017, at a time when Thierry Derez was still a director of Scor, more than one year before the takeover attempt. It is therefore absolutely groundless and deceitful to suggest that it was initiated as a result of Covéa's offer. It was Covéa which, through its press release of September 4, 2018, and its second ambiguous press release of September 27, 2018 "reiterating its interest" in Scor, caused a strong increase in Scor's share price, as clearly established by the Paris commercial court in its decision of November 10, 2020, which raised Covéa’s "malicious intent",” said the reinsurer. “This complaint clearly seems to have one single goal: to divert attention from the serious misconduct of Thierry Derez and Covéa in connection with the preparation and implementation of Covéa’s unsolicited takeover bid for SCOR in 2018,” it added. Covéa's complaint comes ahead of a criminal trial against Mr Derez and Covéa for breach of trust and concealment of breach of trust respectively. It will be heard on July 5 and 6 before the Paris Criminal Court.

Scor hits back at Covéa’s ‘deceitful’ complaints against Kessler

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