Parmalat will sue Deutsche Bank today for €17 million, part of a broader effort by the insolvent group to recover €1.6 billion from its former banks, a source familiar with the situation said.
"A suit against Deutsche Bank will be filed today in Parma as with the UBS complaint. The revocatory action aims to recoup €17 million," the source said, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The source, who asked not to be identified, said the sum corresponded to the money that Parmalat returned to Deutsche Bank out of proceeds from the final tranche of a bond payment at the end of 2003.
"Deutsche Bank has not received any notification of legal proceedings against us on behalf of Bondi," said Deutsche Bank spokeswomen Ms Elaine Bartleet, referring to Parmalat's government-appointed administrator, Mr Enrico Bondi.
The food company wants to recover at least €1.6 billion from banks that arranged debt transactions in the year before it collapsed, a person close to Parmalat said last week.
The banks include Banca Intesa and Morgan Stanley, the person said.
On Friday, the Italian group sued Swiss bank UBS for €290 million, a week after it had filed a $10 billion fraud suit against Citigroup.