EM.TV failed to agree with the banks - which include JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bayerische Landesbank Girozentrale and Lehman Brothers - on whether they have a right to claim EM.TV's 17 percent stake in Formula One as a payment for loans to the KirchBeteiligungs arm of the bankrupt Kirch Gruppe.
EM.TV had floundered under the financial weight of its stake in Formula One and, as part of a rescue plan, Kirch agreed in 2001 to buy some of EM.TV's holding.
Kirch pledged the stake in Formula One to the banks for a loan that helped the German media company to finance the purchase but the situation fell into chaos when Kirch was declared bankrupt.
"EM.TV disputes the effectiveness of this pledge and is determined to proceed legally," the company said in a statement to the Frankfurt exchange.
