Marketing

Alkens withdraw

Anthony and Gregory Alken have withdrawn their proceedings against Febvre & Company.

The case, which opened at The Commercial Court yesterday before Judge Max Barrett, collapsed when the Plaintiffs withdrew all proceedings against Febvre & Co, Padmore, Frank Woods, Frank Woods Jnr and Gillian Alken relating to the transfer of their shares in Febvre & Company.

The terms of the Plaintiffs’ withdrawal were read out in open court before Judge Barrett having been signed by all parties.

In doing so, the Alkens specifically acknowledged that the shares issued in Febvre & Company in favour of Padmore Limited have been lawfully and validly vested.

The Alken brothers had been unhappy at Padmore’s selling of the Paul Sapin subsidiary in France to Les Grands Chais de France this Summer having acquired the company in 1999.

Padmore, an Isle of Man investment company, took over the running of the company as the majority shareholder from the Alken brothers in 2014 after the pair had run up personal debts of €21 million to Ulster Bank.

Padmore appointed Jim Bradley, former Chief Executive of C&C, to head up operations at the Sandyford-based company.

This resulted in Gregory and Anthony instigating legal proceedings relating to the debts and the ownership of Febvre & Co as well as the conduct of the Febvre Board of Directors which had been underway in Ireland and France for the past two years.

With proceedings now withdrawn here, Managing Director of Febvre Jim Bradley said he was delighted for Febvre’s staff, customers and shareholders as the uncertainty caused by the long-running proceedings had been brought to a clear and unambiguous conclusion. Febvre & Co could now concentrate on its day-to-day business in what are difficult market conditions, he concluded.


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