Amanda Staveley Company liquidated following dispute with shipping tycoon

After a dispute over an historic loan with a Greek shipping magnate, a company owned by the former Newcastle United director Amanda Staveley was forced into liquidation.According to both parties, a London court liquidated Staveley’s Apollo Belvedere Services – a UK company formerly known by the name PCP Capital Partners – on September 11, following a petition submitted by Victor Restis.

This dispute stems from the fact that Restis has been an important figure in shipping for over two decades. He made a PS10mn Loan to Staveley’s business ventures back in 2008. Staveley had to pay Restis about £3.5mn in March after she failed to win a High Court bid to block the statutory demand – a formal ultimatum to pay a debt – that Restis issued to the British financier. Both sides claim that the sum has been paid.

Restis also requested interest payments for the loan. Last week, he rejected a £1.6mn offer from Apollo, saying it was far less than the contractual amount owed. Restis chose to pursue a winding up petition against the entity. Apollo denied that the amount due exceeded £1.6mn.

Restis said that he will now seek to appoint insolvency specialists as liquidators for the company, who would conduct an investigation of the affairs of the firm, its circumstances of liquidation and Staveley’s conduct as designated members. The entity is devoid of assets and shows no sign of trading activity for several years.

After the London High Court in March rejected Staveley’s attempt to block Restis’s statutory demand, Staveley has now been liquidated.

Staveley , who agreed recently to give up her board position at Newcastle United and to sell her stake, responded to the March decision by saying that she would appeal the ruling, on the basis that she wasn’t personally liable. She has paid the approximately £3.5mn since.

Restis’ initial demand was £36mn, according to the ruling. Ted Loveday, Staveley’s lawyer, said in March Restis had given up on pursuing her for interest exceeding £30mn. Staveley’s lawyers argued previously in court that Staveley had signed certain agreements with Restis, under duress. They also claimed that Restis had taken advantage her Huntington’s disease, which is a condition where parts of the mind stop working properly.

In March, Judge Daniel Schaffer of the Insolvency and Companies Court, a part of the High Court of Justice, found against Staveley for several reasons, saying that Restis acted as a “businessman who would take an aggressive position on substantial money which had been due to him for a significant period of time”.

He added, “My judgment is that duress cannot be proven.”

Judge Schaffer ruled that Staveley’s claim that the tycoon had threatened violence against her for non-payment was untrue. Her statement in a testimony that she didn’t understand she was personally responsible, which she stated as a witness, “went into the realm of fiction”, said the judge.

Staveley was a member of the board at Newcastle United. He had helped to broker the £300mn sale of the club by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in 2021. The financier rose to prominence in the public eye during the financial crises when she helped the Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan purchase Manchester City.

She helped Barclays, a UK bank, secure an investment from Abu Dhabi in response to an emergency cash call. Staveley has unsuccessfully sued Barclays over the deal in recent years.