Stephenson Harwood has been instructed to advise Swiss banking giant UBS as it launches a claim against motorway service operator Tank & Rast for refusing to allow E40m (£31.7m) of debt resulting from a refinancing to be sold on. Commercial litigation partner Richard Gwynne is leading the team with 3 Verulam Buildings’
Clydes disputes partner Paul Friedman has been drafted in to defend Tank & Rast — which is owned by Terra Firma and Deutsche Bank — with
The claim will be closely watched by litigators who are predicting similar cases will emerge from the downturn.
Barlow Lyde & Gilbert disputes partner Andrew Howell commented: “Banks are trying to offload debt to clear their books while parties are becoming more robust in the way they look at terms attached to debt. In terms of financial instruments everyone will be looking at the small print in a way they were not before.”
The claim follows an earlier dispute between UBS and HSH Nordbank, which became the first true bank-on-bank dispute to hit the