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Colourful property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz today settled his long-running legal dispute with failed Icelandic bank Kaupthing, clearing the way for a £2 billion refinancing of his property empire.
The settlement could also hasten the resolution of Tchenguiz's judicial review of the Serious Fraud Office over his arrest and the raids on his offices and home in March of this year. He was released without charge.
As part of what is understood to be a highly complex agreement, Tchenguiz and Kaupthing's Trustee (the equivalent of an administrator) have kept the details of the settlement confidential.
Tchenguiz had originally sued the failed bank for more than £1 billion - for misrepresenting its solvency. It had lent him £100 million. This was part of a £2 billion debt package which Tchenguiz is now hopeful of refinancing. Until now, the Icelandic bank had blocked any such refinancing.
Since the bank collapsed in 2008 Tchenguiz's assets, including the ground rents on some 250,000 residential properties in the UK, have effectively been frozen.
Tchenguiz said: "It has been a tricky three years since the bankruptcy of Kaupthing and this is the first major step for our group to move forward on a positive footing."
Kaupthing has settled with the Tchenguiz Family Trust, whose main beneficiary is Tchenguiz and his Euro Group business. There has been no settlement with his brother Robert's Tchenguiz Discretionary Trust.
Vincent Tchenguiz said: "All the parties have had to take some very public steps in the wake of the collapse of Kaupthing in 2008 in order to protect their respective legal rights. However, in the meantime, the strength of our asset base and the commercial opportunities available to us have enabled us to work together with Kaupthing to achieve an outcome that benefits everyone."
Alongside the 250,000 residential property ground rents - the largest portfolio in the UK - Tchenguiz owns 10 Hilton hotels and has a joint property venture with Tesco. He is said to have lined up a number of banks to take part in the refinancing, which could be announced in a matter of weeks.
Among plans being considered by Tchenguiz are the sale of some assets and the sales of the cashflow from the ground rents to outside investors.
Shortly after his arrest, Tchenguiz's residential property-management business Peverel and a number of associated companies were put into administration after Bank of America called in a £124 million loan and demanded an £11 million interest payment.
Sources close to Tchenguiz said that papers filed by Kaupthing as part of its defence appeared to contradict the SFO's claims. When Tchenguiz was arrested, the police alleged that he had "substantially misled" Kaupthing over the valuation of £1 billion placed on a portfolio of ground rents and had not revealed the portfolio had another senior lender against it. But Kaupthing's papers say it was aware of these facts.
Reader views (8)
He looks rather creepy actually and are those two women his daughters or his "paid for" (indirectly or otherwise) company??
- Normal girl, London, 20/09/2011 20:04
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blonds
- Wilhelmina, Nice, 19/09/2011 18:46
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Would you buy a second-hand car from him?
- Gresham, Marbella, Spain, 19/09/2011 17:51
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"One has to commit murder to get sacked from the public sector - and even then it is touch and go."
Yes of course. That is why there have been thousands of extra murders in 2011 since all those public sector workers lost their jobs.
On another tageant... the blonde on the right has a great rack.
- Ben, London, 19/09/2011 17:37
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Peverel has arisen as O & M now, still same horrid service.
- Jane Evans, London, 19/09/2011 16:17
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And just when will my council get back the millions they lost when the Icelandic Banks went bust? The warning signs were there for all to see at least 9 months before they went bust, but our highly paid finance director didn’t read the financial press. He is still in his job. One has to commit murder to get sacked from the public sector - and even then it is touch and go.
- William Boreham, Kingston Surrey, 19/09/2011 14:22
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.....and before you ask, it's purely on his looks.
- Hansel, London, 19/09/2011 13:57
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Has Pevererel disposal been completed or is it still in play ?
- remus, london, 19/09/2011 13:55
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