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Newcastle United football club director Amanda Staveley faces paying a Greek shipping magnate almost £3.5mn after losing a High Court bid to prevent him from pushing her into bankruptcy on Monday.
The High Court in London ruled that a statutory demand — a formal ultimatum for payment of a debt — that Victor Restis served on the British financier last year was valid, and dismissed her bid to have it set aside.
Under the statutory demand, Staveley is required to pay Restis within 21 days, or he can petition the court for a bankruptcy order. Staveley said in a statement on Monday that she would appeal against the ruling.
However, her lawyer Ted Loveday told the court that Restis was now demanding only about £3.5mn, not the approximately £36mn he had initially sought.
The dispute has its origins in a £10mn investment Restis made in 2008. According to Staveley’s written arguments, the tycoon had originally issued a formal demand in May for about £36mn from her, which included more than £30mn in interest.
Staveley’s lawyers had applied to the court to have the demand dismissed, arguing variously that the dispute should be settled through arbitration and she had signed some agreements with Restis under duress.
But Judge Daniel Schaffer in the Insolvency and Companies List, part of the High Court, declined on Monday to strike out Restis’s demand. The judge found against Staveley on a series of grounds, ruling that some of her assertions had a “complete lack of credibility”.
The judgment is a blow for Staveley, one of the highest-profile figures in UK sports finance who helped broker the £300mn purchase of Newcastle in 2021 on behalf of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and sits on the board of the Premier League club.
In a statement, Staveley said she “notes and welcomes that the ruling made a £33mn reduction in the claim to principal only with no interest. Nevertheless, Ms Staveley continues to dispute personal liability and intends to lodge an appeal.”
A representative for Restis was approached for comment.
Additional reporting by Eleni Varvitsioti in Athens
