A High Court judge has ordered London residential property developer G&T Design and its directors, Gal and Tatyana Adir, to pay £3.3m to creditors after discussions over a lawsuit ran out of time.
The Adirs, who now trade as the Adir Group, specialise in high-end residential developments in the capital. One of their developments, 58 Myddelton Square, Islington, EC1, was the most expensive single house ever sold in Islington, when it was completed in 2014.
The £3.3m comes from two loans, one for £1.1m and the other for £1.5m, lent by creditors NIHL Limited and London Property Asia in June 2014 to G&T, according to a High Court judgment.
After non payment, the creditors sued G&T for £6.9m, which they said took interest into account. It was due to go to trial in November 2018. However, on the first day of trial the parties settled.
According to the ruling, the parties agreed to negotiate a sum. They agreed that if settlement hadn’t been reached by 26 May 2020, the debtors would pay the creditors £3.3m.
According to the ruling, agreement wasn’t reached by May. In late October the case went back to the High Court in front of judge Mr Justice Henshaw. According to his ruling, lawyers for G&T and the Adirs argued that they shouldn’t be held to the agreement to pay £3.3m because the creditors hadn’t co-operated enough in settlement discussions.
However, in a ruling handed down on 20 November, Henshaw J rejected the arguments.
“I am satisfied that the Adirs’ defence to the claimants applications has no real prospect of success,” he said. “Accordingly, the claimants’ application for judgment is granted and judgment shall be entered in the amount of £3.3m.”
NIHL Limited (A Company Registered in the British Virgin Islands); London Property Asia Limited (A Company Registered in the British Virgin Islands) v (1) Infinite Limited (In Liquidation) (A Company Registered in Jersey) (2) G&T Design Limited (3) Gal Adir (4) Tatyana Adir
Commercial Court (Henshaw J) 20 November 2020
Alexander Goold (instructed by Ince Gordon Dadds LLP) for the Claimants. Jonathan Gavaghan (instructed by Healys LLP) for the Defendants
