Court to hear Meam’s claim

The first hearing for the Middle East Aston Martin (Meam) claim against Aston Martin Lagonda UK (AM UK) before the Dubai Courts has been set for September 16 at 9am, a spokesperson from Meam told Emirates Business.

Meam, an independent company established under UAE law in 2003, said it filed a $50 million (Dh183m) lawsuit for breach of contract in the Dubai Court against AM UK on Tuesday. The court then released the schedule for the hearing on Wednesday, it added.

Meam claims it had signed a contract with AM UK to co-operate exclusively to distribute the Aston Martin brand in the Middle East for 10 years, which translates into an initial five-year period with a renewal option of another five years. However, in May 2007 Meam received a termination notice from Aston Martin effective May 8, 2008.

Meam said a settlement amount of $50m “will be adequate to compensate Middle East Aston Martin for their investments in the region on behalf of the agreement, which has been unfairly terminated and also the future revenues that will be lost due to the termination of the deal ”.

Meam has attributed the  termination of the deal to the “entrenched interests” of Aston Martin’s majority shareholder, Kuwaiti investment group Dar.

Stefan Spruck, board member of Meam in Dubai, told Emirates Business there is no single investor who would have the motive to terminate the contract but the Dar group.

Deputy CEO for the Kuwaiti company, Amr Abu Al Saud Dar, on the other hand said they had “nothing to do with it” and they have not received any court statement.