Bentham Ventures this morning said it was contemplating legal proceedings against Petrofac on behalf of its shareholders.
It comes after the service firm suspended its chief operating officer Martin Chedid. The move came after the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced on May 12 that it had launched an investigation into Petrofac, its subsidiaries and employees under suspicion of bribery, corruption and money laundering.
The investigation relates to a probe into Unaoil SAM, a Monaco-based oil contractor and other agents. Chedid, who was interviewed under caution, was suspended on May 25.
Bentham is currently funding and managing litigation on behalf of institutional shareholders against Tesco PLC in England and Volkswagen AG in Germany.
In a statement today it said: “The alleged grounds of the proposed litigation are expected to be that Petrofac issued false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material information regarding its business, its performance and prospects, and/or otherwise misled shareholders and/or concealed conduct.”
Following Chedid’s suspension, Petrofac shares fell 30% to close at 389p on 26 May 2017 which, together with an earlier fall following the 12 May Statement, has led to an aggregate fall in share price in excess of 50% leaving shareholders with significant losses, according to Bentham.
At the time of Chedid’s suspension, Petrofac said: “These actions do not in any way seek to pre-judge the outcome of the SFO’s investigation.”
Petrofac’s chief executive Ayman Asfari has also been interviewed under caution in relation to the investigation.
Petrofac said he will continue in his role but he will not be involved in any matters connected to the investigation, and will have no role or responsibilities for engaging with or liaising with agents and consultants.
Instead a committee of the board has been established to be solely responsible for the company’s engagement with the SFO and to oversee the company’s response to their investigation.
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