--- title: "Property magnate sues law firm for £180m over Spanish deal" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/298754926.md" description: "British property magnate Robert Tchenguiz is suing Spanish law firm Cuatrecasas for £180m. His fund, Edgeworth Capital, alleges the firm provided poor advice regarding a 2008 deal to buy Santander’s Madrid headquarters. They claim failure to disclose Supreme Court rulings limiting debt liabilities caused significant financial loss. The dispute centers on whether proper advice would have increased the sale price by €426m." datetime: "2026-09-11T16:35:37.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/298754926.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298754926.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/298754926.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # Property magnate sues law firm for £180m over Spanish deal A British property magnate is suing one of Spain’s biggest law firms over claims its poor advice cost him €213m (£183m). Edgeworth Capital, a Luxembourg fund owned by Robert Tchenguiz, is suing law firm Cuatrecasas in a dispute over the sale of Santander’s headquarters on the outskirts of Madrid. Mr Tchenguiz bought the building as part of a €1.9bn deal in 2008. However, the vehicle he owned the property through fell into bankruptcy, and he ended up selling the property back to the bank for €3bn in 2019. Cuatrecasas advised on the deal, but Edgeworth Capital alleges the law firm failed to properly advise it about two rulings in Spain’s Supreme Court that would have affected the value of the building. These judgments limited creditors from claiming interest on certain debts. Mr Tchenguiz owned Santander’s headquarters through a company that had debts at the time covered by the ruling. Edgeworth argued that it undervalued the properties because it was unaware the judgments could limit its liability for these debts. Mr Tchenguiz claims Edgeworth would have sought €426m more for Santander’s headquarters had it been aware of the rulings. Edgeworth would have been in line for 50pc of that “windfall” and it is now seeking to recover the €213m from Cuatrecasas through a High Court claim. Cuatrecasas said Edgeworth wouldn’t have gained any benefit if it had been advised of the Supreme Court rulings. Lawyers for Cuatrecasas said: “Almost every aspect of \[Edgeworth’s\] pleaded case is in issue.” After moving to Britain in 1979 to flee the Islamic revolution in Iran, Mr Tchenguiz built a property empire with Vincent Tchenguiz, his brother. Mr Tchenguiz lives in the Royal College of Organists’ building in South Kensington, opposite the Royal Albert Hall. He once owned Shell-Mex House on London’s Victoria Embankment, before selling the building for £490m in 2007. Mr Tchenguiz embarked on plans last year to launch an ultra-exclusive private members’ club in Mayfair called The Leconfield, supported by Liz Truss, the former prime minister. Leconfield House is the former headquarters of MI5, which he bought for £140m in 2004. His father was an Iraqi-Jewish jeweller who fled persecution in Iraq by moving to Iran, before ending up in the Shah’s inner circle running the country’s mint. He changed the family name from Khadouri to Tchenguiz after moving to the UK. Mr Tchenguiz lost hundreds of millions in the 2008 crash, including through the collapse of Iceland’s Kaupthing Bank, and was subject to an investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as a result. No charges were brought. The SFO later paid Mr Tchenguiz £1.5m to settle a lawsuit brought by the tycoon. Mr Tchenguiz also owns significant stakes in Sainsbury’s and Mitchell & Butlers, the pub company that owns Toby Carvery and All Bar One. ### Related Stocks - [SAN.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SAN.US.md) - [SBRY.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SBRY.UK.md) - [MAB.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MAB.UK.md) - [BNC.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BNC.UK.md) ## Related News & Research - [Banco Santander Investigation Notice: SueWallSt Notifies Investors of Pending Investigation Into Banco Santander (SAN)](https://longbridge.com/en/news/303617626.md) - [Santander nine-month underlying profit rises 16% year on year to €11.18 billion](https://longbridge.com/en/news/303335025.md) - [LIVE MARKETS-Before the bell: European banks briefly in spotlight](https://longbridge.com/en/news/303349617.md) - [Cnmc Launches Disciplinary Proceedings Against Apple And Amazon](https://longbridge.com/en/news/304136492.md) - [Tesla Registrations Explode Across Europe as Iran War Sends Fuel Prices Soaring — But BYD and Chinese EV Rivals Are Gaining Fast](https://longbridge.com/en/news/304082278.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**