A dispute between online business The Hut Group and the founder of Myprotein, which was was sold to The Hut, has seen The Hut take its case and a claim for £15 million to the High Court. The dispute revolves around an alleged overstatement of profits in Myprotein’s accounts for the half year to March 2011 which, The Hut says affected the valuation of the business which it acquired for a cash consideration of £31.1 million and 12.7 per cent equity in The Hut which placed a value of £58 million on the deal. MyProtein founder Oliver Cookson was also to join the Hut’s board but was served with a notice after some nine months alleging breach of warranty in which he had declared that Myprotein’s management accounts were a fair representation of the business’ financial affairs for the half year to March 2011.
Cookson has filed a counterclaim of £12.7 million for breach of contract as well as making an allegation against The Hut of receipt amounting to a fiscal value of between £9m-£13m. The contract claim concerns an alleged overstatement of profits in The Hut’s 2010 draft accounts which, says Cookson, significantly reduced the value of shares in the group and therefore had an impact on the sum achieved for his business. Cookson is backed in his claim by Barclays Private Bank in its capacity as a trustee of Oliver’s Jersey based Sebastian LED Trust 2011 which held class B shares in The Cend Limited, the owner of Myprotein.
The case hearing is expected to take several weeks.
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