OSLO - Some 37 Ericsson shareholders are suing the Swedish telecoms company for a total of 1.8 billion crowns ($170 million), business daily Dagens Industri reported on Friday.

The shareholders, which include several investment firms and pension funds, have filed separate lawsuits with a Swedish court but their actions are coordinated, the paper reported.

An Ericsson spokesperson declined to comment immediately but said the company would issue a response soon.

An emailed request for confirmation that the lawsuits had been filed with the Swedish court cited in the report went unanswered out of hours.

According to Dagens Industri, the shareholders are demanding compensation for the 33% fall in value in Ericsson shares between Feb. 16, 2022, and March 2.

On Feb. 15, 2022, Ericsson CEO Boerje Ekholm had talked to Dagens Industri about an internal, and until then, secret report about the company's activities in Iraq, the paper said in a published interview.

The shareholders say Ekholm's statement caused the fall in the share price.

  - Reuters