Candy brothers sue former business partner Holyoake for bankruptcy
Property tycoons Nick and Christian Candy have issued a petition for bankruptcy in the High Court against former business partner Mark Holyoake, four years after Holyoake lost a lawsuit he brought against the brothers.
In the high-profile 2017 court case, Holyoake unsuccessfully attempted to sue the brothers seeking more than £100m, claiming they “coerced” him out of millions of pounds after Christian Candy’s company CPC lent him £12m to buy Belgravia mansion Grosvenor Gardens House in 2011.
The Candy brothers strongly refuted the allegations and argued that Holyoake was an unreliable creditor whose allegations of coercion were fabricated.
Property tycoons Nick and Christian Candy have issued a petition for bankruptcy in the High Court against former business partner Mark Holyoake, four years after Holyoake lost a lawsuit he brought against the brothers.
In the high-profile 2017 court case, Holyoake unsuccessfully attempted to sue the brothers seeking more than £100m, claiming they “coerced” him out of millions of pounds after Christian Candy’s company CPC lent him £12m to buy Belgravia mansion Grosvenor Gardens House in 2011.
The Candy brothers strongly refuted the allegations and argued that Holyoake was an unreliable creditor whose allegations of coercion were fabricated.
See also: Holyoake v Candy: the case in detail
After a three month trial at the High Court in London, judge Mr Justice Nugee dismissed Holyoake’s case and told him to pay the brothers’s legal costs of more than £11m.
At the time, he ordered Holyoake to pay £5.7m upfront and the balance later, some of which is still unpaid.
The bankruptcy petition lists “Mark Alan Holyoake” as the debtor. The petitioners are CPC Group Limited, Nicholas Anthony Christopher Candy, Christian Peter Candy, Richard Steven Williams, Steven Miles Smith and Timothy James Dean.
Williams, Smith and Dean were all directors at CPC and were also being sued by Holyoake.
A spokesman for Holyoake said that Holyoake “has paid the Candy brothers £10m in accordance with the order made by the High Court”.
He said that he has “suspended” paying the final £1.3m and intends to dispute the bankruptcy petition when it is heard in November 2022.
All of the petitioners are represented by law firm Gowling WLG, the law firm that represented the Candy brothers during the trial. Holyoake’s law firm is named as Gunnercooke.
A spokesman at Gowling declined to comment.
Photos from Shutterstock
