An international property battle following the collapse of Asil Nadir’s Polly Peck empire has ended in failure in the UK courts for four Greek Cypriot companies.
The companies’ efforts to sue the administrators of Polly Peck International (PPI) over property in northern Cyprus were yesterday blocked by the Court of Appeal in London.
The companies – Marangos Hotel Co, Pharos Estates, Sedigep and Cyprus Ports Authority – were given leave in the High Court by Mr Justice Rattee last November to bring proceedings against PPI, the administrators of PPI and the supervisors of a Scheme of Arrangement in relation to PPI.
But that decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal in May, which ruled that the UK courts have no jurisdiction to hear the case. Now that ruling has been upheld by the House of Lords who have refused leave for a further appeal.
The administrators sold PPI shareholdings in various subsidiaries and the companies were attempting to recover part of the proceeds of sale.
The four companies say they owned property in northern Cyprus and were dispossessed in 1974 after the Turkish invasion. They allege that certain PPI companies occupied and exploited the property.
PLS News 6/8/98
