Panoro wins in payment claim dispute

London-based E&P company Panoro Energy has won a court case related to a payment claim by an advisory firm regarding a success fee on the sale of assets in Brazil.

Euro-Latin Capital SA (ELC), an M&A advisory firm, sued Panoro with a claim of $2.4 million, based on an alleged right to a success fee on sale of assets in Brazil in 2014.

The case was heard in the Oslo District Court, between 1-3 September 2015 and a judgment has been passed in favor of Panoro on all counts. A reasonable level of costs was also awarded to Panoro. ELC has appealed the court’s decision in October 2015 and the appeal was heard in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Panoro reported on Friday that a judgment has been granted in favor of the company by the Borgarting Court of Appeal in Oslo.

According to the company, the Court of Appeal has dismissed all of ELC’s claims and ordered ELC to pay Panoro’s costs, which together with costs awarded earlier are in excess of NOK 2 million. It is not yet known by the company whether ELC will appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Norwegian Supreme Court, Panoro said.

There is a one month appeal period available to ELC but in practice the Supreme Court allows few cases to be heard.

“Panoro is fully committed to act in the best interest of its shareholders and will continue to take all necessary actions to protect shareholder value,” the company concluded.