Another legal loss for Watson

RICH-LISTER Eric Watson has been dealt another defeat in his long-running legal battle with former business partner Sir Owen Glenn.

In September 2018, a British High Court judge ruled Glenn’s company Kea Investments was entitled to £43.5 million (NZ$87.8m) compensation from Watson plus accruing interest of 6.5 per cent.

Glenn and his company Kea Investments brought proceedings against Watson, and five other defendants, in relation to hundreds of millions of dollars Watson and Glenn had put into joint European property venture, Spartan Capital.

Following a trial in 2017, Justice Nugee found two loan agreements totalling £129m between Kea Investments and Watson and paid to Spartan were void. The loans had been repaid to Kea but Kea was entitled to claim lost interest.

Watson who was once a co-owner of the Warriors rugby league team with Glenn, appealed the interest rate.

On Thursday an England and Wales Court of Appeal judgement handed down by Lord Justice McCombe, Lord Justice

Hamblen and Sir Bernard Rix dismissed Watson’s appeal.

Lord Justice McCombe said the appeal raised the question of whether the interest should have been fixed by the judge.

Justice Nugee set the rate as a proxy for the rate of return that trustee investments would achieve. This was done based on performance indices of investment managers in different risk categories, as analysed by two independent and reputable organisations, Lord Justice McCombe said.

In April, Watson’s company Cullen Group filed an appeal against a High Court decision in New Zealand that ruled it owed Inland Revenue $51 million in tax.