Damas facing AED114m court claim from JV partner

Dubai jewellery retailer Damas International has said it will "vigorously defend its interests" after revealing that it is being sued by a joint venture partner.

The company said in a statement that it had received a legal notice from Al Manara Jewellery, notifying the retailer and one of its subsidiaries Damas Jewellery of a claim filed before the Abu Dhabi Courts for AED114.7 million.

The case, it said, is in relation to "one of the joint venture business that the subsidiary had participated in Abu Dhabi".

The civil suit filed by the joint venture partner claimed compensation of an "apparent breach of the joint participation agreement that the subsidiary of Damas had signed when establishing the venture".

"The company firmly believes the case to be without merit and intends to vigorously defend its interests related to this civil action," Damas said in the statement.

On Sunday, Damas announced that it was taking "all reasonable steps" to recover the money owed to the company by the Abdullah brothers.

The company said in a statement that it was working with the Abdullah brothers but it was taking more time than expected to secure the funds.

"Given the complexity involved in transferring, selling the assets declared to the company, it is taking more time to affect the recoveries as per the timeline mentioned in the previous announcement by the company on November 4 2009," the company said.

"The delay in payments does not constitute an event of default under the agreements," it said, adding that the amount of $55m to be paid by the Abdullah brothers on or before April 30 would be carried forward.