[RISOLTO] Caso DaimlerChrysler...

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DETROIT/FRANKFURT -- A high-profile trial over one of the biggest deals in automotive history opens in a U.S. court on Monday with billionaire Kirk Kerkorian claiming top DaimlerChrysler executives lied about the nature of the 1998 transaction.

Juergen Schrempp, the architect of the DaimlerChrysler deal, faces allegations that he misled investors by characterising it as a "merger of equals" when it was actually a takeover by the German automaker.

The trial at the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware is scheduled to last through to December 17 and it is unclear which day DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Schrempp will take the stand but the company's attorneys say it is likely to be next week.

It may take Judge Joseph Farnan, who will decide the verdict with no jury, until March or April to rule.

DaimlerChrysler and Schrempp face allegations of fraud and a violation of U.S. securities law from investor Kirk Kerkorian who owned 13.7 percent of Chrysler Corp. shares before its $36 billion link-up with Daimler-Benz.

Kerkorian claims what Schrempp billed as a "merger of equals" was actually a secret takeover by the German automaker, which hid its true intentions to avoid paying a higher premium for Chrysler shares.

DaimlerChrysler, whose attorney says Kerkorian is claiming $1.2 billion in damages, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Kerkorian's suit was filed after Schrempp told the Financial Times in October 2000 that he had always meant to make Chrysler a mere division of a new global automotive giant.

DaimlerChrysler, which has lost two thirds of its market value since the deal was announced, settled with a separate group of former investors for $300 million in August in one of the largest out-of-court deals ever reached by U.S. shareholders.

SETTLEMENT POSSIBLE

DaimlerChrysler attorneys have not ruled out a settlement for the Kerkorian case.

"If someone has something they want to discuss with us we would be foolish to say we will not talk to anyone about anything and we would not say that, but at the moment we are fully engaged in preparing to go to trial," DaimlerChrysler attorney Mike Schell told reporters on Friday.

DaimlerChrysler seems to face an uphill battle in court following the August settlement and the judge's comments supporting Kerkorian and his Tracinda Corp. investment group in a ruling last month.

"In my opinion, Tracinda has offered sufficient evidence to... support its allegations that defendants never intended the transaction to be a merger of equals, but instead, planned a secret takeover of Chrysler from the beginning," Farnan wrote in rejecting requests to throw out the lawsuit.

But Kerkorian's claim that he was duped by Schrempp may be partly undermined by the fact that he had a representative on Chrysler's board with access to insider information at the time of the deal.

In addition to Schrempp, current and former executives ordered to appear and testify at the trial include DaimlerChrysler Chief Financial Officer Manfred Gentz and Robert Eaton, who was the chairman of Chrysler when Schrempp clinched what he hailed as a "marriage made in heaven".

Eaton, once listed as co-CEO of the new DaimlerChrysler, took early retirement in 2000. His chosen successor, James Holden, who is also due to appear at the trial, was replaced by former Daimler executive Dieter Zetsche as German managers took increasing control over the third-largest U.S. automaker as losses at the U.S. arm mounted.