STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) - A German court has dismissed a lawsuit by hedge funds seeking 1.36 billion euros (£1.14 billion) in damages from investment company Porsche SE (>> Porsche Automobil Holding SE), in a ruling that bodes ill for other claimants pushing damages claims against Porsche.

Two dozen hedge funds including Viking Global Investors, Glenhill Capital and Greenlight Capital had accused Porsche SE of throughout 2008 camouflaging its plan to acquire much-bigger Volkswagen AG (>> Volkswagen AG) and secretly piling up a holding in Europe's largest automaker.

In March 2008 Porsche SE dismissed talk that it intended to take over VW, but seven months later revealed it controlled 74.1 percent of VW's common stock, just short of the 75 percent takeover threshold.

Porsche's statement caused VW shares to surge to record highs as short-sellers scrambled to cover their positions.

Judge Carola Wittig at the regional court in Stuttgart where Porsche is based said it could not be proved that Porsche SE deliberately caused harm to hedge funds' position.

The holding company, whose sole asset is VW shares, still faces over 4 billion euros in additional damage claims through a number of investor lawsuits pending at German courts in Hanover and Braunschweig.

Porsche SE, the family-controlled holding company that owns a majority stake in carmaker Volkswagen (>> Volkswagen AG), hailed the ruling.

"The verdict confirms our view that lawsuits pending in Hanover and Braunschweig are equally unfounded," a Porsche spokesman said.

(Writing by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Ludwig Burger and David Holmes)

By Ilona Wissenbach

Stocks treated in this article : Volkswagen AG, Porsche Automobil Holding SE