A row concerning an alleged commission of €21.5m arising on the sale of the Monte Carlo Grand Hotel (MCGH) to Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud has been decided by the High Court.
Nelson J rejected the claim by Waleed Aboualsaud, an executive vice-president of the Kuwait Investment Office in
Toufic Aboukhater sold the MCGH, which he had bought for $140m in 1998, to FHR European Ventures LLP – a joint venture between Bank of Scotland, hotel group Fairmont and the Prince’s company Kingdom – for approximately €215m.
Aboualsaud claimed that he was entitled to a 10% commission because he and his former close friend Bassam Aboukhater, on behalf of Toufic Aboukhater, had a binding oral agreement, which had allegedly been made in various meetings and telephone calls in late 2002, Under this, Aboualsaud would be paid commission if he introduced a party to the Aboukhaters that proceeded to purchase the hotel.
Aboualsaud contended that he had achieved this by introducing Kingdom to the Aboukhaters on 5 December 2002, which led to a letter of intent to purchase MCGH on 21 March 2003.
He claimed that although that deal did not go ahead, the introduction remained the effective cause of the eventual purchase of the hotel by FHR.
The Aboukhaters denied the existence of an oral agreement; it was simply a case of one friend seeking to help another. If that help were to succeed, payment in recognition of it could be expected.
Rejecting Aboualsaud’s claim, Nelson J ruled that there was “no concluded agreement between the parties relating to the payment of commission to [Aboualsaud]” and that even if there had been an agreement, Aboualsaud’s introduction was “not an effective cause” of the December 2004 sale.
Aboualsaud v Aboukhater and another Queen’s Bench Division (Nelson J) 19 September 2007
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