Crest Nicholson has won its legal dispute with a group of
After a five-day hearing in December, High Court judge Sir Edward Evans-Lombe last week made a ruling on how the parties had agreed to calculate Crest’s share of the profits from the development.
The 385,000 sq ft mixed-use scheme was completed in March 2006 and includes 100 apartments and a retail centre.
The housebuilder, represented in court by John Martin QC and Joanne Wicks, argued that, under the terms of a deal between representatives of Crest and Akaria Investments’ asset manager Aberdeen Property Investors Ltd, it was entitled to profits from units that had not been let.
However, Akaria, which owns the centre, claimed that there was no such agreement, and even if there had been the representatives had no authority to enter into it.
Ruling in favour of Crest, the judge held that, on the evidence, the deal had been approved by senior people at both Crest and
John Furber QC, of Wilberforce Chambers, commented: “Although the legal aspects of the case are not particularly groundbreaking, when viewed in the context of the recession the case is a prime example of parties trying to get out of agreements made in better times that no longer look attractive in the current market, and reiterates the importance of contract certainty.”
Crest Nicholson (Londinium) Ltd v Akaria Investments Ltd and another Chancery Division (Sir Edward Evans-Lombe, sitting as a judge of the High Court) 19 February 2010.
John Martin QC and Joanne Wicks (instructed by Collyer Bristow LLP) appeared for the claimant; Michael
