Entrepreneur settles Elephant case

FORMER Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year Rabinder Buttar has settled a multi-million pound legal dispute with a private 
equity firm over an investment in her company.

Elephant Capital had invested £8 million for a 28 per cent stake in Buttar’s Glasgow-based clinical research company ClinTec in August 2010. ClinTec’s performance rapidly fell short of budget in the months following the investment, forcing Elephant to write down the value of its stake three times. By February this year it valued the holding at just £1.12m. In June, London-based Elephant issued a legal claim against Buttar and her brother for alleged breach of a warranty provided under the share purchase agreement.

Yesterday, Elephant said that all parties have now agreed to settle the claim which will see it dispose of its holding in ClinTec for £3m.

Aim-quoted Elephant intends to distribute the funds received as part of a payout to shareholders following a wider disposal of its investments.

The firm, which specialises in investments related to India, bought its stake in ClinTec through its Tusk Investments Fund.

Buttar, named Ernst & Young Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010, founded ClinTec in 1997 to carry out clinical research work for pharmaceutical firms, biotechnology companies and medical device makers.

In July this year, the company announced plans to expand into Malawi following a deal with a major drugs company.

The unnamed pharmaceutical group chose ClinTec, which now carries out research from bases in more than 40 countries, as its preferred partner for vaccine development in Africa and Asia.