10:38 am, September 14, 2022
The long-running legal saga surrounding Aston Martin’s Valkyrie hypercar has take a fresh twist after two former dealers launched a lawsuit claiming they are owed £150m by the British firm.
Andreas Baenziger and Florian Kamelger, co-owners of the Swiss Nebula Project AG, have filed a complaint against the carmaker in London.
Although few details have been revealed, it is believed the case is in relation to a deal agreed in 2016, which saw the two dealers sign on to underwrite the development of the Valkyrie .
The Swiss outfit agreed to underpin the development of the Valkyrie, the Valhalla and another mid-engined model.
Under the terms of the agreement Nebula Project AG handled Swiss customer deposits on Valkyrie orders, with the money then used to fund development of the car.
However, last year, Aston Martin sued the company, claiming that it had illegally withheld more than £10m of customers’ money.
In response to the latest claim against it, bosses at the British marque said the lawsuit was ‘retaliatory and without merit’, the FT reports.
Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin chairman, said: ‘Last year Aston Martin filed civil legal proceedings against Nebula Project AG, and criminal proceedings against its board members, after we became aware that Nebula had failed to pay what the company believes to be millions of pounds of deposits taken from our Valkyrie programme customers.
‘Aston Martin is working with our affected customers to ensure they receive delivery of their vehicles.
‘We are confident in our legal position and believe their counterclaims are retaliatory and without merit.’
(Aston Martin’s Valkyrie, left, and Valhalla, right)
‘The group is of the view that it can defend the claims’
The news of the lawsuit has emerged just weeks after Aston launched a £575m rights issue backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
On September 5, the company told shareholders that the money would be used to pay down its debts and to improve the firm’s liquidity.
The letter also included reference to the legal action, which has now been made public.
In the prospectus, Aston said: ‘The arbitration proceedings are at an early stage but the group is of the view that it can defend the claims brought by Nebula Project AG and assert valid counterclaims in the arbitration.
‘At this stage it is not possible to assess the group’s potential total overall exposure.’
It later added: ‘There is a dispute between the group and the other shareholders of one of its subsidiary entities, which is ongoing and from which a future obligation may arise.’
Nebula Project AG is yet to comment on the latest developments.
