UK-based hedge fund Altana Wealth misused a competitor’s confidential information and trade secrets to establish its Venezuelan debt-focused fund, the Altana Credit Opportunities Fund (ACOF), London’s High Court ruled on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.
The ruling came after IlliquidX, another London-based firm, accused Altana of breaching a 2019 non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which was signed during brief talks between the two firms to collaborate on a fund targeting Venezuelan distressed debt. IlliquidX alleged it had shared sensitive information during these discussions, which Altana later used without permission to set up ACOF.
Justice Eason Rajah found that Altana had indeed breached the NDA and misused IlliquidX’s confidential information and trade secrets in both the creation and operation of its Venezuelan debt fund. However, the court dismissed IlliquidX’s claim of copyright infringement related to a slide presentation Altana used for marketing purposes.
Rajah clarified that Altana’s Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Lee Robinson, had not acted “willfully and knowingly” in misusing the confidential information, softening the blow to Altana’s leadership.
Altana and Robinson had argued throughout the case that the allegations were baseless, claiming there was no misuse of information that wasn’t already known to them or publicly available. Following the ruling, an Altana spokesperson expressed satisfaction that the court found Robinson had not acted knowingly in the misuse but disagreed with the broader findings of the judgment. The firm plans to seek permission to appeal.
IlliquidX initiated legal proceedings in 2020, shortly after Altana launched ACOF. The firm argued that its proprietary insights into Venezuelan credit opportunities were crucial to the fund’s creation and that Altana’s actions violated their prior agreement.
IlliquidX has yet to comment on the ruling.
