Grundig AG has brought Philips nothing but woe since it agreed to rescue the company in a lousy deal that saw it get only a minority stake and no over-arching management control. But now that it has finally walked away from what was an impossible situation, Grundig is threatening to sue for over $490m of losses incurred before Philips walked away from the ugly wreck on January 1. Philips and Grundig say they hope to resolve the dispute amicably. Grundig raised the possibility of legal action on Monday last week when Philips-appointed chief executive Pieter van der Wal resigned under employee protests against his plan to lay off one third of Grundig’s 8,500 employees.
