Rich-lister Eric Watson has lost another battle in his high-stakes war with Sir Owen Glenn.
Overnight, the latest development in the Kiwi pair’s bitter business divorce – which revolves around a $259m (£129m) investment of Sir Owen’s wealth - emerged out of the Court of Appeal in London.
And again, the verdict has gone against Mr Watson.
This time, he’s failed in an appeal to slash around $40m off the eye-watering sum of money the UK High Court last year ruled he owed Sir Owen.
In July 2018, one of the most complex cases ever seen in the UK High Court ruled Mr Watson owed his former business partner a £129m ($259m) stake back – plus about $86m (£43m) interest - from a joint investment venture turned sour.
The presiding judge, Justice Nugee, said that he was satisfied that Watson had "resorted to deliberate deception".
Mr Watson appealed the calculation of the whopping lost interest bill, arguing that the rate used by Justice Nugee was too high – and attempted to reduce the sum by about $46m (£23m).
But the Court of Appeal (Lord Justice McCombe, Lord Justice Hamblen and Sir Bernard Rix) have unanimously dismissed Mr Watson’s appeal.
“This marks another important milestone in what has already been a seven-year journey to expose and remedy the web of deceit woven,” Sir Owen told 1 NEWS in a statement.
“My focus now is on enforcement of the court’s ruling which, in addition to receiving the sum due to me will, I hope, prevent the risk of Mr Watson being able to deceive friends and/or other potential business partners in the same way again.”
1 NEWS has approached Mr Watson for comment.
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