Omni Bridgeway to fund claims against UBS in connection with Folli Follie bond offering

LONDON, 18 August 2020: Omni Bridgeway today announces that it will fund the claims of a significant group of bondholders against leading Swiss Investment Bank UBS AG concerning the Bank’s role in the 2017 sale of Swiss franc-denominated debt for Greek retailer Folli-Follie Commercial Manufacturing and Technical SA (Folli Follie) that has since defaulted. The case will be pursued in Switzerland and will be litigated by the leading international law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan (Schweiz) GmbH.

Background: 

Following the October 2017 bond issue, hedge fund Quintessential Capital Management published a report in May 2018 summarising its findings concerning Folli Follie’s business. The report concluded Folli Follie had inflated financial and other business figures in its financial statements and other publications, overstating its points-of-sale network, revenues and cash reserves. Although disputed by Folli Follie, global turnaround advisers, Alvarez & Marsal, reported in September 2018 that the discrepancies between Folli Follie’s 2017 figures and reality were massive and exceeded the worst expectations. The price of the bonds have fallen significantly and presently trades at approximately 8% of the issue price.

Setting a precedent for Swiss investors:

Jeremy Marshall, Senior Investment Manager of Omni Bridgeway, said “Companies and their advisers are obliged to ensure that bondholders have appropriate information to inform their investment decisions. Something went seriously wrong with the 2017 Folli Follie bond issue and we are pleased that Quinn Emanuel will act for the group to seek appropriate recompense.” 

Volker Rosengarten, a partner at Quinn Emanuel, added “Prospectus liability cases are still rare in Switzerland as are group actions. This group’s case is very strong and we are confident that the bondholders will be compensated for their losses. We also expect that this action will set standards for cases going forward and strengthen protection of investors in Switzerland at large.”

What affected bondholders can do:

The bondholder group has been coordinated by Alcimos, a services company. Investors who purchased these bonds in October 2017 are encouraged to contact: