KOZA-ALTIN
The High Court in London has delivered another blow to businessman Hamdi Akin Ipek, granting an injunction preventing him from using funds belonging to Koza Ltd, the English subsidiary of a publicly-listed Turkish mining conglomerate. Mr Ipek wanted to use millions of Koza Ltd's funds to pay for a personal international arbitration dispute between him and the Republic of Turkey.
Following a 2-day hearing in the High Court in London on 10 and 11 February 2020, Mr Jeremy Cousins QC (a Deputy Judge of the High Court) ruled on Monday that Koza Ltd's funds should not be used in support of the arbitration – in particular since it appeared the arbitration was being pursued based on a document of doubtful authenticity.
Mr Ipek had claimed he could not pay for the arbitration personally, and that without Koza Ltd's funds it could not go ahead. At the court hearing, however, Koza Altin submitted evidence showing that Mr Ipek and his family members had been "shuffling" more than $20million between them and dealing in luxury yachts. The Court heard that Mr Ipek must have access to sufficient funds of his own to pay for the arbitration. The judge was unimpressed by Mr Ipek’s failure to disclose his assets, deciding that "Mr Ipek's position remains shrouded with an uncertainty that Mr Ipek has done nothing to dispel" and that his refusal to cooperate to enable proper scrutiny of his asset position was "extremely unimpressive and unsatisfactory. "
This week’s ruling means that Koza Ltd’s funds are preserved pending trial.
Hugo Plowman, the Partner at Mishcon de Reya LLP representing Koza Altin, commented:
"This is an important decision and a clear message from the English Court that Mr Ipek must stop using Koza Ltd’s funds to fight his campaign against Turkey. My client is delighted with this result which follows our major win in the Supreme Court last summer."
The decision is the latest in a series of defeats suffered by Mr Ipek in ongoing litigation over control of Koza Ltd.
Koza Ltd is the wholly-owned English subsidiary of Koza Altin, a publicly-listed mining conglomerate headquartered in Ankara. Koza Ltd was incorporated in 2014 and capitalised with £60million provided by its parent company, Koza Altin.
Over the course of the past 4 years, Koza Altin has taken action to stop these funds being used inappropriately. In 2016, the funds were frozen in order to preserve the value of the company pending resolution of the dispute. In 2017, Mr Ipek sought the Court's permission to release Koza Ltd’s funds to finance a raft of personal litigation, including £3million for an international arbitration claim that he planned to bring against Turkey on behalf of another company owned by him and his family called Ipek Investments Limited. Koza Altin contested his application, arguing that this was an inappropriate use of assets ultimately held for the benefit of Koza Altin’s shareholders. Koza Altin also argued that the arbitration was founded upon a fraudulent share purchase agreement (the SPA) and, since it was a sham, the Court should not sanction use of frozen funds to pursue the arbitration.
On that occasion, Richard Spearman QC (a Deputy Judge of the High Court) decided that the authenticity of the SPA underpinning Mr Ipek's right to bring the arbitration was "open to very serious doubt" . This was upheld on appeal in 2019 when the Court of Appeal concluded that Mr Spearman was "plainly correct " in his assessment of the authenticity of the document and that "once there is accepted to be a seriously arguable case that the SPA was a forgery… the court plainly should not lend its authority to a transaction when there is a real possibility that the transaction is a fraudulent one".
In his judgment this week, Mr Cousins QC agreed with the earlier rulings. He confirmed that there "remain reasons for very serious doubt as to the SPA’s authenticity." This, he said, is "highly material" to Mr Ipek’s prospects of success in the arbitration.
Last summer, another issue was settled in Koza Altin’s favour when the Supreme Court dismissed Mr Ipek’s claims challenging the authority of directors appointed by the Turkish Court to represent Koza Altin. The decision represented the culmination of almost three years of litigation on jurisdiction.
What is left of the claim can now proceed to trial in England where the Court will decide who should be able to control Koza Ltd. Koza Altin maintains that Mr Ipek is improperly and unlawfully seeking to prevent it from exercising its rights as the 100% shareholder of Koza Ltd. Koza Altin is seeking the removal of Mr Ipek as a director of Koza Ltd in order to protect Koza Altin and its assets for the benefit of its shareholders, and in accordance with its regulatory obligations.
ENDS
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200325005045/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
SE Labs Award Reinforces NetApp Status as the Most Secure Storage on the Planet2.7.2025 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
NetApp wins 2025 SE Labs Award for Enterprise Data Protection NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the intelligent data infrastructure company, today announced that it was recognized as a standout performer in cybersecurity in the SE LABS ® Awards 2025. NetApp won the 2025 SE Labs Award for Enterprise Data Protection, validating NetApp’s status as the most secure storage on the planet. This recognition as a winner of a 2025 SE Labs Award is a result of NetApp’s exceptional innovation in cyber resiliency to deliver NetApp ONTAP® Autonomous Ransomware Protection with Artificial Intelligence (ARP/AI), which was tested and validated by SE Labs. NetApp ARP/AI demonstrated 99 percent detection of tested, advanced full-file encryption ransomware attacks with zero false positives, indicating a strong ability to operate in a business context without contributing to alert fatigue. “Great security doesn’t just happen—it’s built, tested and proven,” says Simon Edwards, Founder and CEO of SE Labs. “Behind every
CroíValve Announces Funding from Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator2.7.2025 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
CroíValve, a pioneering medical device company innovating a better way to help more patients suffering from Tricuspid Regurgitation (TR), was awarded funding from Horizon Europe’s European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Programme. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250702306192/en/ DUO™ Transcatheter Tricuspid System Part of the EU’s Horizon Europe 2021-2027 Research and Innovation Programme, the EIC Accelerator Programme provides transformational funding to high-potential, high-risk start-ups, scale-ups and subject matter experts. This award includes grant funding of €2.5 million, combined with an equity investment of €10 million in CroiValve’s next financing. The latest competition included 959 applications, with only 40 awards across 16 countries. Almost one third of the selected companies are led by a woman and CroiValve are incredibly proud to be one of this group. “Securing European Innovation Council
EUMETSAT: Europe’s First Geostationary Sounder Satellite Is Launched2.7.2025 13:20:00 CEST | Press release
Europe has taken a major step forward in strengthening its resilience to extreme weather events with the successful launch of the Meteosat Third Generation Sounder 1 (MTG-S1) satellite. MTG-S1 will deliver new streams of atmospheric data, enabling earlier, more accurate warnings that protect lives, property and infrastructure. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250702002782/en/ MTG-S1 is part of the Meteosat Third Generation programme, Europe’s new fleet of geostationary meteorological satellites. Image: EUMETSAT Extreme weather events like storms, flooding, and heatwaves have caused hundreds of billions of euros in damage and claimed tens of thousands of lives across Europe in the past decades. Launched on 1 July 2025, MTG-S1 will provide Europe’s national meteorological services with high-frequency data on temperature, humidity and trace gases throughout the atmosphere – enabling forecasters to detect the earli
HCLTech and Equinor Expand Digital Collaboration2.7.2025 13:08:00 CEST | Press release
HCLTech, a global technology leader, and Equinor, Europe's largest energy supplier and a pioneer in renewables and low-carbon solutions, have expanded their IT collaboration to support the next phase of Equinor’s digital transformation. This expanded relationship will cover Equinor’s IT landscape across several key strategic areas. HCLTech will support Equinor as it accelerates its digital transformation by: Accelerating its cloud migration and standardizing services across operations Enhancing its cyber resilience and network performance Improving workplace experience through automation Enabling advanced user experiences with technologies like augmented reality (AR) "We’re pleased to continue our long-standing collaboration with Equinor," said Sandeep Kumar Saxena, Executive Vice President, HCLTech. "This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to innovation and sustainability.” Over the past decade, HCLTech has been a trusted advisor to Equinor, supporting the company’s global e
Wizz Air Tops Major Airline Emissions Rankings2.7.2025 11:00:00 CEST | Press release
Cirium, the aviation analytics company, creates a new transparent standard and ranking for airline CO2 emissions, identifying the best performing airlines in specific categories Wizz Air is the world's most emissions-efficient airline in new rankings released today by Cirium, the aviation analytics firm. The Cirium Flight Emissions Review ranks the top 20 airlines globally, through a consistent benchmark for flight emissions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250702342529/en/ The top 20 Major airlines globally, ranked by lowest CO2/ASK Wizz Air, the Hungary-based ultra-low-cost airline emits an industry low of 53.9 grams of CO₂ per Available Seat Kilometer (ASK)*, followed by Frontier Airlines (54.4 grams) and Pegasus (57.1 grams) according to the report. The rankings provide the aviation industry with verified comparable data on an equal playing field as the sector advances toward Net Zero by 2050 commitments.
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom