Strand Hanson in legal claim over £7.6m fee paid to firm’s founder
CORPORATE advisory firm Strand Hanson has initiated legal proceedings against its founder and former chairman, claiming he owes the firm a share of £7.6m in advisory fees he raked in last year when working for oil company Sibir Energy.
Richard Fenhalls, who launched Strand Hanson – then named Strand Partners – 17 years ago, is understood to have received $11.7m (£7.6m) as payment for two months’ work with Sibir, which was bought out by Russian energy giant Gazpromneft in May last year.
Fenhalls claims to have left Strand on 17 April last year, three days before beginning his advisory contract with Sibir. However, Strand argues that he was hired by Sibir prior to resigning from the company, and claims it is entitled to a proportion of the fee revenue.
Strand confirmed that a legal process is underway but declined to comment further.
Prior to its sale to Gazprom, Sibir had been embroiled in a damaging legal dispute with major shareholder Chalva Tchigirinsky over the extent of his debts to the company. Earlier this month, the FSA fined Sibir’s former chief executive Henry Cameron £350,000 for market abuse.
Read more: Strand founder strikes back at legal claim over Sibir fees