Drivers Jonas (DJ) has been ordered to pay £18.05m in damages over its negligent valuation of a factory outlet shopping centre in Chatham Historic Dockyard.
This morning, Mr Justice Eder ruled that its £62.8m valuation of the property was negligent.
The claim had been brought by Capita Alternative Fund Services (Guernsey), trustee of the Matrix Chatham Maritime Trust and trust manager Matrix Securities who had asked for up to £42.3m in damages.
Capita paid £62.8m for the Grade II listed site in 2001 on the alleged basis of advice from DJ on its commercial prospects. DJ based that valuation on the site receiving the benefit of enterprise zone tax allowances; without that benefit it valued the site at £48.1m.
However, the judge ruled that a competent valuation of the property at the time without any enterprise zone allowance would have been between £32m and £37m.
Capita has claimed that the investment failed and the site is now worth as little as £7.2m.
Photo by KaterHa via Flickr.
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