On 13 June 2024, the Commercial Court (Dame Clare Moulder DBE sitting as a High Court Judge) gave judgment following an expedited trial listed for five days between JP Morgan International Finance Ltd (“JP Morgan”) and WeRealize.com Ltd (“WRL”). The dispute concerned the parties’ shareholders’ agreement in relation to a Greek fintech company: Viva Wallet Holdings Software Development SA (“Viva”). The Court ruled on a number of issues concerning the proper approach to valuation of shares for the purposes of a call option process and US regulatory restrictions said to apply to Viva by reason of JP Morgan’s shareholding.
Richard Lissack KC and Charles Redmond (together with Robert Weekes KC and Timothy Lau of Blackstone Chambers) acted for WRL, instructed by Richard East and Karabeth Ovenden of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan UK LLP. Richard Handyside KC, Rosalind Phelps KC, Rupert Allen, Christopher Langley and Gillian Hughes acted for JP Morgan, instructed by Christopher Robinson and Tom Clark of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. The judgment can be found here and the consequential judgment handed down on 27 June 2024 can be found here.
