Sebastian Isaac KC

Confidential
Acting (with Alex Gunning KC and others) for a Dutch infrastructure investment company in a dispute with its joint venture partner in relation to the building of a deep water grain terminal in on the Russian black sea coast. The terminal is a potentially extremely valuable and strategic asset, as one of very few warm water deep sea locations in Russian territory.

Vale v Steinmetz
Acted (with Sonia Tolaney KC and others) to represent Vale, a Brazilian mining company in its US$1.8 billion claim alleging fraudulent misrepresentation and conspiracy in relation to a joint venture to exploit mining licences in the Republic of Guinea.

Travelport Ltd v WEX [2020] EWHC 2670 (Comm):
Acted with Richard Hill KC, Sa’ad Hossain KC and others for the sellers of a travel payments business in a $1.7 billion transaction in the trial of preliminary issues relating to whether the “Material Adverse Effect” clause in the contract releases the buyers from the obligations to close as a result of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yukos Finance v Lynch and others [2019] EWHC 2621
Acted with Stephen Houseman KC for the hedge fund manager Richard Deitz in a Commercial court trial arising from the acquisition of Yukos Finance BV, a $1.5 billion company, in the auctions of Yukos Oil’s assets in 2008. The claims arose out of the break-up of Yukos by the Russian government and sale of its assets in bankruptcy auctions. Yukos Finance alleged that Mr Deitz and the other defendants colluded with the Russian government’s bankruptcy auctioneer to rig the auction of certain highly valuable Yukos assets, including a Dutch company which held nearly US$1.5 billion in cash, as well as other assets. All of the claims were dismissed.

Avonwick Holding v Azitio Holdings and others [2020] EWHC 1844 (Comm)
Acted with David Wolfson KC for Mr Oleg Mkrtchan and associated companies in this very high value multi-party dispute between the current and former shareholders of the Ukrainian industrial group, Industrial Union of the Donbass “Industrial Union of the Donbass” (or “IUD”), one of the largest corporations in Ukraine. The key parties were the Ukrainian oligarchs Vitaly Gaiduk, Oleg Mkrtchan and Sergey Taruta. The claims arose from the sale of the corporation to a Russian group, and included allegations of fraud and breach of contract, with total claims totalling in excess of US$1 billion. Seb’s clients successfully resisted all the claims against them.

Pinchuk v Bogolyubov & Kolomoisky
Acted (with Jonathan Crow KC, Richard Hill KC and others) for Mr Victor Pinchuk, an ultra-high net worth individual from Ukraine in bringing claims against two other Ukrainian billionaires, Mr Gennadiy Bogolyubov and Mr Igor Kolomoisky in relation to the ownership of the Ukrainian iron ore mine, KZhRK. These claims were pursued successfully to settlement on confidential terms in the days leading up to a nine week commercial court trial. Sebastian also appeared in successfully resisting an application by Mr Bogolyubov for permission to bring committal proceedings against Mr Pinchuk during the interlocutory phase; and acted for Mr Pinchuk in a related LCIA Arbitration against the same defendants, more detail under “Arbitration”.

Vitol E & P Ltd v Africa Oil and Gas Corp [2016] EWHC 1677 (Comm)
Appeared in the Commercial Court for the Dutch oil and energy company Vitol in claims arising from the sale of an exploration interest in Congo to Africa Oil and Gas Corporation. Seb was successful at trial in establishing that US$7.4 million in deferred consideration was payable to Vitol because initial drilling of an exploration well had not occurred by the trigger date.

Marsfield Automotive Inc v Kamal Siddiqi [2017] EWHC 187 (Comm)
Acted with Neil Kitchener KC for Marsfield in a £50 million claim for repayment for sums advanced as a down-payment during negotiations for a joint venture for the supply of hybrid vehicles in Russia and China.

Centrica PLC v Medway Power Limited
Acted (with Daniel Toledano KC) for Centrica, one of the big six energy companies, in its claims against the owner of the Medway power station under the ‘take-or-pay’ contract between them. The case related to the causes of a failure of the power station, and involved complex technical analysis and expert evidence. This action was successfully settled on confidential terms shortly before trial.

Berezovsky v Abramovich [2011] 1 WLR 2290
Acted (with Laurence Rabinowitz KC, Richard Gillis KC and others) for Boris Berezovsky in his Commercial Court action against Roman Abramovich in relation to alleged interests in the Russian oil company Sibneft and aluminium company Rusal.

Nagel v Graff
Acted (with Mark Howard KC) for one of the De Beers brokers in an action against a jeweller and sightholder for breach of their brokerage agreement.

Sebastian is frequently involved in domestic and international arbitrations, and is experienced in LCIA, ICC and SCC proceedings.  He has a particular interest in issues regarding the jurisdiction of arbitrators and arbitrability.

Confidential
Acting (with Alex Gunning KC and others) for a Dutch infrastructure investment company in a dispute with its joint venture partner in relation to the building of a deep water grain terminal in on the Russian black sea coast. The terminal is a potentially extremely valuable and strategic asset, as one of very few warm water deep sea locations in Russian territory.

Confidential
Acted (with David Wolfson KC) for the BVI vehicle of a Ukrainian ultra-high net worth individual to defend claims under loan agreements totalling more than US$40 million.

Pinchuk v Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov
Acted (with Jonathan Crow KC, David Foxton KC, and others) for Mr Victor Pinchuk, an ultra-high net worth individual from Ukraine in bringing LCIA arbitration claims against two other Ukrainian billionaires, Mr Gennadiy Bogolyubov and Mr Igor Kolomoisky in relation to unpaid profits in excess of US$500 million from a jointly owned holding controlling Ukrainian producers of ferroalloys (precursors for steel manufacturing). These claims were pursued successfully to settlement on confidential terms during a final hearing. Sebastian also acted for Mr Pinchuk in a related High Court Claim, more detail under Commercial Litigation.

Confidential
Acted for a major Russian bank in arbitrations with the international lenders under its subordinated debt obligations. The client was placed in rehabilitation by the Russian central bank, giving rise to complex issues as to whether subordinated debt obligations were terminated by the rehabilitation procedure, and the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal to determine claims after the rehabilitation.

Confidential
Appeared in LCIA arbitrations on behalf of a Dutch company, a shareholder in a Czech heavy industrial company, in its dispute with the former majority shareholder controlled by a Ukrainian oligarch. Disputes arose out of breaches of the shareholders’ agreement, pursuant to which the Dutch company claimed to be entitled to acquire the company.

Marsfield Automotive Inc v Siddiqi [2017] EWHC 187
Acted with Neil Kitchener KC for Marsfield in a £50 million claim for repayment for sums advanced as a down-payment during negotiations for a joint venture for the supply of hybrid vehicles in Russia and China. Marsfield successfully resisted a challenge to the jurisdiction by the defendant in favour of LCIA arbitration.

ImageSat International v Republic of Serbia
Acted (with Maurice Mendelson KC) in a high value ICC Arbitration between an aerospace supplier and the government of Serbia, successfully establishing the jurisdiction of the Tribunal over Serbia, and the arbitrability of the question of the identity of the state of Serbia.

Crest Nicholson (Eastern) Ltd v Western [2008] All ER (D) 249
Appeared for a major building firm in a challenge to the jurisdiction of an arbitrator purportedly appointed under the widely used National House Building Council Buildmark Certificate; successfully establishing that there was no binding arbitration clause under the Certificate.

Arma Partners v Wejo:
Instructed by Simmons & Simmons to act for the corporate finance advisers Arma Partners in their claim for success fees due on the acquisition of their client, a tech start-up, by a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (or “SPAC”), in a dispute about the proper characterisation of a SPAC acquisition transaction.

Kwok v UBS:
Acting with Sa’ad Hossain KC for an ultra-high net worth Chinese businessman and dissident, Mr Miles Kwok, and his companies against UBS to claim damages in excess of US$500 million arising out of the total loss of a leveraged investment in shares in a Chinese company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Confidential
Acted (with David Wolfson KC) for the BVI vehicle of a Ukrainian ultra-high net worth individual to defend claims under loan agreements totalling more than US$40 million.

Sharp v Blank [2019] EWHC 3096
Acted with Richard Hill KC and others for the claimant group in a very high value Group Action claim by a group of Lloyds shareholders against the bank and its former directors. In 2008, during the credit crunch, Lloyds completed a disastrous rescue acquisition of HBOS. The Court found that the directors of Lloyds had breached their duties by failing to disclose the emergency funding provided by the bank of England and Lloyds itself to HBOS, but held that this breach had not caused loss to the Claimants because the takeover would have gone ahead in any event.

Confidential
Acted for a major Russian bank in arbitrations with the international lenders under its subordinated debt obligations. The client was placed in rehabilitation by the Russian central bank, giving rise to complex issues as to whether subordinated debt obligations were terminated by the rehabilitation procedure, and the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal to determine claims after the rehabilitation.

Philips Pension Trustees Limited v Aon Hewitt & AllianceBernstein
Acted (with Laurence Rabinowitz KC) for the global investment management firm AllianceBernstein, defending a claim brought by the Philips Electronics pension fund. The claim is for an alleged breach of the obligations under a discretionary fund management agreement in relation to the management of a £500 million enhanced cash portfolio, invested predominantly in US mortgage-backed securities.

Chesterfield United and others v Deutsche Bank and others
Acted (with Martin Pascoe KC) for a senior employee of Deutsche Bank joined in his personal capacity to claims by SPVs which invested in US$500 million of Kaupthing debt in 2008.

AB DNB Bankas -v- (1) Sapinda Holding B.V. (2) Mr Lars Windhorst
Acted for a bank in claims arising out of agreements for sale of bonds in contracts executed by the Chairman of Sapinda’s Board, Mr Windhorst.

Hunterford v GLG Partners
Acted (with Daniel Toledano KC) for the hedge fund, GLG, in in an action brought by the offshore investment vehicle of a French entrepreneur. The dispute was over alleged mismanagement of a discretionary investment mandate.

Dominion DXPCC v Prudential
Acted (with Laurence Rabinowitz KC) for Prudential in a dispute with an offshore investment vehicle invested in its funds about the permissible exercise of contractual discretions under the policy conditions. Successfully settled during trial.

Royal Bank of Scotland v Hicks & Gillett
Acted (with Ali Malek KC and Richard Hill) for the US sports investors, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, in their dispute with RBS over the enforcement of the finance arrangements at Liverpool Football Club and the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures. This action settled on confidential terms.

Dumrul v Standard Chartered Bank
Acted (with Alain Choo Choy KC) for a derivatives trader in a dispute about alleged mis-valuation of his options book by the bank.

Confidential
Acting (with Alex Gunning KC and others) for a Dutch infrastructure investment company in a dispute with its joint venture partner in relation to the building of a deep water grain terminal in on the Russian black sea coast. The terminal is a potentially extremely valuable and strategic asset, as one of very few warm water deep sea locations in Russian territory.

Vale v Steinmetz
Acted (with Sonia Tolaney KC and others) to represent Vale, a Brazilian mining company in its US$1.8 billion claim alleging fraudulent misrepresentation and conspiracy in relation to a joint venture to exploit mining licences in the Republic of Guinea.

Avonwick Holding v Azitio Holdings and others
Appeared successfully with David Wolfson KC for Mr Oleg Mkrtchan and associated companies in this very high value multi-party dispute between the current and former shareholders of the Ukrainian industrial group, Industrial Union of the Donbass “Industrial Union of the Donbass” (or “IUD”), one of the largest corporations in Ukraine. The key parties were the Ukrainian oligarchs Vitaly Gaiduk, Oleg Mkrtchan and Sergey Taruta. The claims arose from the sale of the corporation to a Russian group, and included allegations of fraud and breach of contract, with total claims totalling in excess of US$1 billion. Seb’s clients successfully resisted all the claims against them.

Pinchuk v Bogolyubov & Kolomoisky
Acted (with Jonathan Crow KC, Richard Hill KC and others) for Mr Victor Pinchuk, an ultra-high net worth individual from Ukraine in bringing claims against two other Ukrainian billionaires, Mr Gennadiy Bogolyubov and Mr Igor Kolomoisky in relation to the ownership of the Ukrainian iron ore mine, KZhRK. These claims were pursued successfully to settlement on confidential terms in the days leading up to a nine week commercial court trial. Sebastian also appeared in successfully resisting an application by Mr Bogolyubov for permission to bring committal proceedings against Mr Pinchuk during the interlocutory phase; and acted for Mr Pinchuk in a related LCIA Arbitration against the same defendants, more detail under “Arbitration”.

Vitol E & P Ltd v Africa Oil and Gas Corp [2016] EWHC 1677 (Comm)
Acted and appeared in the Commercial Court for the Dutch oil and energy company Vitol in claims arising from the sale of an exploration interest in Congo to Africa Oil and Gas Corporation. Seb was successful at trial in establishing that US$7.4 million in deferred consideration was payable to Vitol because initial drilling of an exploration well had not occurred by the trigger date.

Centrica PLC v Medway Power Limited
Acted (with Daniel Toledano KC) for Centrica, one of the big six energy companies, in its claims against the owner of the Medway power station under the ‘take-or-pay’ contract between them. The case related to the causes of a failure of the power station, and involved complex technical analysis and expert evidence. This action was successfully settled on confidential terms shortly before trial.

Confidential
Advising (with Daniel Toledano KC) a large UK power distribution network operator in a dispute regarding the operation of a private power network at a large London airport.

Confidential
Advising (with John McCaughran KC) a Japanese supplier of oil-field piping in potential claims regarding the supply of allegedly defective pipes to a Kazakh exploration project.

Aminata & Sons v Novel Commodities SA
Acted for the Liberian oil trader and supplier, Aminata & Sons, in a dispute regarding the termination of its supply relationship with the Swiss oil and commodities trader, Novel Commodities. This action was successfully settled on confidential terms at mediation.

Varied advisory work on the construction and rights under gas sales agreements and oilfield operating agreements in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Seb has a strong interest in commercial disputes in the technology and start-up sector, and a personal as well as professional interest in disputes arising out of investments in crypto-assets and blockchain technology.

Arma Partners v Wejo:
Instructed by Simmons & Simmons to act for the corporate finance advisers Arma Partners in their claim for success fees due on the acquisition of their client, a tech start-up, by a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (or “SPAC”), in a dispute about the proper characterisation of a SPAC acquisition transaction.

Confidential
Advising and acting for founders of a start-up specialising in the provision of IT services – and, in particular, interoperability solutions – in the healthcare sector in a dispute with the majority owner, an Indian tech giant.

Gilbert v Holmes & ors
Acted for the Defendant in a claim that an investment in a Limited Partnership which was the licensee of rights to proprietary Human Ezrin Peptide technology was procured by misrepresentations about the funding round and the terms of the HEP licence.

Seb’s company and insolvency cases are typically connected to commercial and civil fraud disputes; and include shareholder disputes, allegations of breach of directors’ duty, and disputes over dissipation of company funds. Sebastian is equally comfortable with onshore and offshore company issues.

Confidential
Acted for a major Russian bank in arbitrations with the international lenders under its subordinated debt obligations. The client was placed in rehabilitation by the Russian central bank, giving rise to complex issues as to whether subordinated debt obligations were terminated by the rehabilitation procedure, and the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal to determine claims after the rehabilitation.

Chesterfield United Inc and others v Deutsche Bank and others
Acted (with Martin Pascoe KC) for a senior employee of Deutsche Bank joined in his personal capacity to claims by SPVs which invested in US$500 million of Kaupthing debt in 2008. The claims are brought for fraudulent trading contrary to section 213 of the Insolvency Act.

Confidential
Acted (with Simon Colton) in a Jersey dispute about the transfer of money from an insolvent company in alleged fraud of its creditors.

Confidential
Acted for 22 corporate shareholders in Cypriot holding companies in disputes under the Cypriot Companies Act, and English law arbitration claims under their Shareholders’ Agreements.

Sebastian is regularly involved in professional liability claims, most often involving disputes about provision of services in the financial services sector.

Philips Pension Trustees Limited v Aon Hewitt & AllianceBernstein
Acted (with Laurence Rabinowitz KC) for the global investment management firm AllianceBernstein, defending a claim brought by the Philips Electronics pension fund. The claim is for an alleged breach of the obligations under a discretionary fund management agreement in relation to the management of a £500 million enhanced cash portfolio, invested predominantly in US mortgage backed securities.

 Hunterford v GLG Partners
Acted (with Daniel Toledano KC) for the hedge fund, GLG, in in an action brought by the offshore investment vehicle of a French entrepreneur. The dispute was over alleged mismanagement of a discretionary investment mandate

The international nature of much of Seb's work frequently gives rise to conflict of laws issues, questions of jurisdiction, admissibility and enforceability, as well as challenges and other forum disputes.

Acted for a major Russian bank in arbitrations with the international lenders under its subordinated debt obligations. The client was placed in rehabilitation by the Russian central bank, giving rise to complex issues as to whether subordinated debt obligations were terminated by the rehabilitation procedure, and the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal to determine claims after the rehabilitation.

Marsfield Automotive Inc v Siddiqi [2017] EWHC 187
Acted with Neil Kitchener KC for Marsfield in a £50 million claim for repayment for sums advanced as a down-payment during negotiations for a joint venture for the supply of hybrid vehicles in Russia and China. Marsfield successfully resisted a challenge to the jurisdiction by the defendant in favour of LCIA arbitration.

ImageSat International v Republic of Serbia
Acted (with Maurice Mendelson KC) in a high value ICC Arbitration between an aerospace supplier and the government of Serbia, successfully establishing the jurisdiction of the Tribunal over Serbia, and the arbitrability of the question of the identity of the state of Serbia.

Crest Nicholson (Eastern) Ltd v Western [2008] All ER (D) 249
Appeared for a major building firm in a challenge to the jurisdiction of an arbitrator purportedly appointed under the widely used National House Building Council Buildmark Certificate; successfully establishing that there was no binding arbitration clause under the Certificate.