Baupost sues UK developer for breaking Royal Albert Dock ‘deal’

US hedge fund Baupost Group is suing the brand new proprietor of a part of London’s troubled Royal Albert Dock improvement, a scheme as soon as seen as symbolic of deepening UK-China ties.

In a declare filed in London’s Excessive Court docket this month, Baupost alleges that DPK Administration, managed by British property developer and newbie racehorse jockey David Maxwell, reneged on a deal to accumulate the belongings collectively.

The riverfront improvement within the east of London was beforehand owned by China’s ABP Group, which had deliberate an enormous £1.7bn regeneration challenge to rival the town’s Canary Wharf monetary centre.

In 2015, Xi Jinping, the Chinese language president, and David Cameron, then British prime minister, gave their public backing to the challenge. It collapsed into insolvency final 12 months, and far of the preliminary 565,000 sq. toes of workplace and retail house lies empty.

Maxwell, 44, emerged as the client of the finished first section of the challenge by DPK earlier this 12 months. PwC had run the gross sales course of.

Baupost, run by Seth Klarman, alleged within the declare that it had “launched” DPK to the chance of shopping for elements of the Royal Albert Dock improvement in February 2022.

The $30bn hedge fund claimed it had made an oral settlement on a three way partnership with DPK at a September 2022 assembly in Lisbon, Portugal, between Maxwell and a Baupost managing director known as Scott Dunn.

The alleged deal concerned Baupost offering 95 per cent of the capital for the three way partnership with DPK liable for the rest. Baupost introduced the lawsuit alongside a Luxembourg entity it stated was meant because the three way partnership car.

Baupost claimed that Maxwell additionally confirmed in an e-mail that it might have the unique proper to do the cope with DPK.

“After securing the fitting to buy a primary package deal of [Royal Albert Dock] property belongings with the important help and assist of [Baupost], [DPK] has evinced a transparent intention to interrupt the settlement . . . by excluding the Claimants from the [Royal Albert Dock] funding,” the submitting alleged.

Baupost, which is represented by legislation agency Pallas Companions, declined to remark. Legislation agency Paul Hastings, which is representing DPK within the litigation, additionally declined to remark.

The businesses have labored on earlier property offers collectively, together with an funding in a portfolio of UK automobile showrooms, in response to the declare. The quick submitting gave solely an outline of Baupost’s allegations.

Baupost stated within the submitting that it had “supplied assurances of monetary assist essential to facilitate [DPK’s] funding in [Royal Albert Dock] belongings” and had additionally incurred “authorized and different prices”. The lawsuit seeks as-yet unquantified damages for breach of contract, amongst different claims.

Extra reporting by Ortenca Aliaj in New York