Hong Kong billionaire Samuel Tak Lee via companies he controls has sent Shaftesbury a letter before action and a draft particulars of claim.
It concerns allegations and claims relating to share placing by Shaftesbury in December 2017.
The draft statement of claim, which may or may not lead to civil court proceedings, notes that the claimants may seek restitution for their estimates of alleged loss in the region of £10m, Shaftesbury has reported.
The REIT’s board said it was disappointed that Lee was considering civil court action, it does not consider the basis of the draft particulars of claim to have any merit and it will be issuing a formal response to Lee’s lawyers in due course.
Lee currently has a 26.15% shareholding in the company.
This latest action by Lee follows his successful attempt to block the ability of the directors to earmark new shares to selected shareholders at the company’s AGM in February. However, he was uncsuccessful in stopping Shaftesbury’s ability for a general rights issue and his bid to stop the re-election of the firm’s chairman Jonathan Nicholls, chief executive Brian Bickell, and finance director Chris Ward.
See also: Groundhog Day for Shaftesbury and Tak Lee?
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