Abu Dhabi royals must wait for judge’s decision in bitter property dispute

The Abu Dhabi royal family must wait to see if they have won a preliminary battle in the bitter court dispute with their former London estate manager. The case has been brought by a number of companies which own a £5 billion portfolio of central London properties – including the Berkeley Square estate – that are ultimately beneficially owned by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates. They are suing Lancer Property Asset Management for “tens of millions of pounds” in damages. They accuse Lancer, which was fired as manager of the estate in 2017 after 16 years of service, of dishonesty and fraud. Since yesterday morning, the parties have been involved in a preliminary court skirmish at London’s commercial court. Lawyers for the claimants are seeking to strike out part of the Lancer defence relating to material disclosed during an earlier mediation between the parties in 2012. They say this was shared “without prejudice” and as a result is privileged, meaning it cannot now be relied on. Lancer’s lawyers oppose this. The hearing ended today and the judge hearing the case, Mr Justice Roth, said he would reach a decision and provide a written judgment “in due course”. He didn’t indicate how long he planned to take. Lancer’s directors deny all the claims made against them. In return, they have brought a counterclaim for payment of £12m they say is due for services rendered under their asset management agreement. Specifically, the claimants allege that there was a “dishonest arrangement” between Lancer and engineer Dr Mubarak Saad Al Ahbabi, who was the chairman of Sheikh Khalifa’s private office, the Department of the President’s Affairs, and was, until 2015, the claimants’ representative in relation to the properties. It is said that the purpose of this arrangement was to “siphon off” £32m in payments to Al Ahbabi. In an earlier statement, Lancer managing director John Kevill said: “The claims made against us are fundamentally misconceived. We regard them as malicious and vexatious and we are defending them vigorously.” The parties are no strangers to courtroom disputes. Last year four of Lancer’s directors – John Kevill, Duncan Ferguson, Andrew Lax and Byron Pull – took Astrea Asset Management, the company that took over the management of the estate to the Employment Tribunal alleging unfair dismissal. Lax and Pull both had their claims dismissed. Ferguson and Kevill’s claims were upheld but Kevill’s compensation was reduced by 100% for “substantially bad” conduct. Today’s dispute has much longer to run. It is scheduled to go to trial after 1 May 2021 and last 18 days. Berkeley Square Holdings Ltd and Others v Lancer Property Asset Management Ltd and Others (Roth J) Commercial Court Hearing dates: 28-29 January 2020