CL-2022-000522 - [2025] EWHC 2739 (Comm)

INTRODUCTION

In this action, the Claimants (collectively, “RMK”) bring a restitutionary claim for US$11,677,600 in respect of mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) advisory work carried out in respect of the merger of Euronav NV (as the Defendant was formerly known) (“Euronav”) and Gener8 Maritime Inc. (“Gener8”) in 2018.

RMK says that the services it provided in connection with that transaction went beyond the scope of the parties’ written agreement. The dispute centres on the interpretation of that agreement, the extent to which it leaves room for any restitutionary claim of the kind RMK advances, the nature and extent of RMK’s role during the transaction, the basis on which any additional remuneration might be claimed, and (if relevant) the proper valuation of the services said to have been rendered in addition to those required under the written agreement.

I heard evidence (factual and expert) and argument over the course of a nine-day trial, during which I was referred to many of the hundreds of documents passing between the parties during a period of about two years. For the reasons set out in this judgment, I have concluded that:-