Scots oil tycoon suing former lawyers and business partners in mammoth £600million court fight

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An oil tycoon is to sue his former lawyers and business partners in a legal action worth almost £600million. If successful, it would be the largest payout awarded in Scotland.

Aberdeen man Robert Kidd, 61, is seeking initial compensation of £175million, dating back to 2008, for a business deal involving his North Sea oil and gas drilling firm ITS Tubular Services.

But the final payout could be about £580million once interest of eight per cent a year is added.Kidd’s action is against Aberdeen law firm Ledingham Chalmers, US private equity house Lime Rock Partners and employees of both organisations.Last month, the Court of Session in Edinburgh gave his compensation case the green light after they threw out a final appeal by Texas-based Lime Rock and Ledingham.The legal dispute centres on a deal that saw Kidd sell Lime Rock a £34.5million stake in ITS.

He retained a majority shareholding but in 2013 the firm went into administration with debts of about £145million.Kidd previously received a £19million payout from another Scottish firm, Burness Paull, which was involved in the Lime Rock deal.