The Milan Industries Ltd, owners of Intercontinental Hotels, Lagos has filed a N850 billion suit against the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) over alleged wrongful sale of Intercontinental Hotels Lagos.
The firm had earlier filed a suit against AMCON and Polaris Bank challenging the sale of the hotel over Milan’s alleged indebtedness to Polaris, following a banking relationship between them.
AMCON allegedly acquired Milan’s alleged indebtedness from Polaris, and in a bid to recover the alleged debt, purportedly sold Intercontinental Hotels – the security for the loan, to a third party.
However, in December 2022, the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, set aside the sale of Intercontinental Hotels Limited, by AMCON as being unlawful.
The claim was contained in a suit against AMCON at the Federal High Court Lagos in which Milan Industries claimed that as a result of the unlawful sale and takeover of its hotel, it has suffered an estimated loss of more than N850 billion, a sum it now seeks from AMCON as damages in court.
The firm in its statement of claim, stated that, “despite lodging an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, AMCON in clear abuse of court process, is also attempting to recover the unsecured part of the debt, which it estimates to be Forty Billion Two Naira (N42,000,000,000.00 ). Remarkably, at the time the hotel was sold to the third party, it was valued at Eighty-five Billion Naira (N85,000,000,000.00) whereas Milan’s indebtedness stood at Fifteen Billion Naira (N15,000,000,000.00) only, at most.”
According to Milan Industries, “To date, AMCON and Polaris have not informed Milan how much the hotel was purportedly sold for, and whether as a result, the debt is fully liquidated or not. The directors of Milan Industries Limited are vigorously contesting the bankruptcy proceeding commenced against them by AMCON.”
As a result, the directors of Milan Industries have already instructed the law firms of Prof A. B. Kasunmu to represent them in court.
“The bankruptcy proceeding is a grand design by AMCON to divert attention from the monumental damages they have inflicted on Milan Industries Limited which they, along with Polaris, must surely pay for”, the firm stated in its statement.
Wale Igbintade
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