By Maria Ward-Brennan
Magic circle law firm Allen & Overy has paid out over £2m to settle a legal dispute with the owners of West Ham’s stadium.
The Hammers moved into the London Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park back in 2016 on a 99-year lease for £2.5m of rent a year.
E20 Stadium, the owners of the 60,000 capacity stadium, along with London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) sued the magic circle law firm back in September 2020 for £12m over for alleged “professional negligence” in its role drafting the London Stadium concession agreement.
The case was settled in August last year, but the latest accounts for E20 Stadium have shed light on the value of the settlement, which has not previously been disclosed.
The firm’s annual accounts for 2022/23 stated: “The details of the settlement are confidential; however, the related transactions are recognised in the 2022/23 financial statements (within exceptional income)”
The company’s account showed that it received £8,563,000, marked down as ‘exceptional income’, a section that did not appear in its accounts for 2021/22.
Of that, £6.5m is reportedly came from West Ham as part of a clause in the concession agreement that had to be paid when Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky took a 27 per cent stake in the club.
This suggests that the remaining sum is the amount paid out by Allen & Overy as part of the settlement.
A&O and E20 Stadium were contacted for comment.
