Glenn Maud has won a stay of execution on a bankruptcy order, to allow him the chance to pursue an appeal. The decision is the latest stage of his battle with creditors, Robert Tchenguiz’s Edgeworth Capital and Abu Dhabi investment fund Aabar.
Registrar Briggs had made a bankruptcy order against Maud, on the basis that the petition debt was not likely to be paid soon. However, High Court judge Mr Justice Snowden has stayed the effect of that order to allow Maud to seek permission to appeal it.
The latest decision effectively gives Maud more time to pay his creditors in order to avoid being made bankrupt.
The bankruptcy proceedings take place against the background of a battle to secure Santander’s €2.7bn (£1.9bn) Madrid headquarters, said to be the most valuable piece of real estate in Europe.
Edgeworth and Aabar say Maud owes the pair a total of €101m, but Maud has argued all along that if the sale of Santander’s 340-acre Madrid campus is completed, he will be able to pay his creditors.
Registrar Briggs had found that little had happened to progress the sale since an adjourned bankruptcy hearing in December last year, so the petition debt was not likely to be paid in a reasonable time.
However, staying the bankruptcy order, Mr Justice Snowden found that there would be irreparable prejudice to Maud and his other creditors if a stay was not granted, while the petitioning creditors would suffer no prejudice or risk of injustice from a few weeks’ delay.
Maud’s application for permission to appeal the bankruptcy order is likely to be heard next month.
