Carillion’s liquidator gets funding for £250m legal claim

Carillion’s liquidator has secured funding for a legal claim against the contractor’s auditor KPMG.

Litigation Capital Management (LCM), which provides financing for legal cases, said the claim was linked to KPMG’s auditing of Carillion’s financial statements. It said the case centres on losses of more than £250m.

LCM executive vice chairman Nick Rowles-Davies said: “This investment demonstrates LCM’s prominence and pedigree in the disputes finance industry and in particular, LCM’s position as funder of choice in the UK insolvency market and we are delighted to be supporting thousands of creditors who have suffered as a consequence of the biggest insolvency in recent UK history.”

The claim by the official receiver has not yet been lodged, but is expected to be heard at the Commercial Court of the High Court.

In May last year the official receiver confirmed it had applied to obtain documents from KPMG relating to its auditing of Carillion. A spokesperson told Construction News at the time: “Consistent with his duties as a liquidator, the official receiver has investigated whether Carillion may have a claim against KPMG for losses resulting from the negligent conduct of its statutory audit.”

The official receiver claimed dividends, bonuses and advisory fees of around £250m would not have been paid between 2014 and 2017 if KPMG had spotted mis-statements in the company’s accounts.

KPMG declined to comment.

The Financial Reporting Council has been investigating KPMG’s auditing of Carillion between 2014 up to its collapse in early 2018. In March it was reported that the auditor was moving towards a settlement with the FRC, which could reach £25m.