Settlement achieved with Federal Government - arbitration proceedings concluded

Daimler AG reached an agreement via its subsidiary Daimler Financial Services AG with Deutsche Telekom AG (syndicate partner) and the German Federal Government on concluding the arbitration proceedings on the matter of Toll Collect. Subject to the approval of all committees and of the court of arbitration, this therefore creates the prerequisites for a swift conclusion through a settlement to a dispute which has lasted for 14 years.

The agreed total settlement amounts to 3.2 billion euros. This includes allocated compensations since 2006 and the penalties paid (incl. interest on the amounts retained), the overall valuation of Toll Collect GmbH and the honoring of the overall toll collection quality (bonus malus system). Furthermore, it also includes a final payment amounting to 1.1 billion euros, which is equally divided between Daimler AG and Deutsche Telekom AG. For Daimler AG, as a result of the settlement, currently still subject to committee approval, a one-off negative EBIT effect amounting to 0.6 billion euros could arise that would impact the Daimler Group result in the current quarter and would be taken into consideration at Daimler Financial Services. Based on this negative one-time effect, Daimler now assumes that the result of Daimler Financial Services in 2018 will be in the magnitude of prior-year’s level. The expectation for the Group EBIT remains unchanged slightly higher level than in the previous year.

The settlement reached together with the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Deutsche Telekom AG is regarded by Daimler as fair and sensibly concludes for all involved a long-standing out-of-court dispute. The end of the arbitration proceedings after 14 years facilitates a fresh start for Toll Collect.

The currently valid contract regarding operations ends on August 31, 2018. On September 1, 2018 the Federal Republic of Germany will acquire shares in Toll Collect GmbH and is then seeking to award the company at the end of award procedure by March 1, 2019.

More than 53 billion in toll revenues since system start

In retrospect, toll collection by Toll Collect has been a joint success story for all involved. From the system’s launch to the end of 2017, the system has collected over 53 billion euros toll for the Federal Government, which has benefited Germany’s infrastructure. Currently, the technical extension of the system is in progress in order to be able to collect tolls according to the Federal Government’s plans from July 1, 2018 on all Federal highways.