Atrium European Real Estate hit with jurisdiction challenge to €2bn claim

Atrium European Real Estate’s €2bn High Court damages claim against its former management could be derailed by a complex legal challenge to the jurisdiction of the UK courts to hear the case. In August, the Central and Eastern European shopping centre developer and manager filed claims in London’s High Court against Austrian-born banker Julius Lindbergh Meinl, his Meinl Bank and his food and drink company Julius Meinl Aktiengesellschaft. The claim is for loss and damage allegedly suffered by Atrium in connection with actions taken by its former management before August 2008, when it was known as Meinl European Land (MEL). Meinl Bank owned MEL, which changed its name to Atrium European Real Estate in 2008 when it was taken over by Citi Property Investors and Gazit Holdings. Also named as defendants are former MEL chairman Georg Kucian and board members Peter Weinzierl, Stephan Visy, Günter Weiss, Heinrich Schwägler, and Karel Römer. The challenge to the claim was disclosed during a High Court hearing yesterday at which the 10 defendants asked for more time to prepare evidence for an application to challenge the jurisdiction of the UK courts to hear the case in view of ongoing proceedings in Austria. Granting the defendants extra time Hamblen J said that because the complexity of the proposed jurisdictional challenge it was important that it was “dealt with in a proper and coherent way rather than in a disjointed and piecemeal manner”. He directed that the four-day trial of the jurisdiction challenge would be heard at the first available date after 18 February 2011.