McBride deal sparks 4m legal wrangle

Own-label manufacturer McBride is at the centre of a 4m High Court case over allegations of breach of contract and the misuse of confidential information.

Business consultant George Hosking is suing Legal & General Ventures (LGV) for 4m, which he claims was promised to him in the form of a two per cent equity stake, in return for executing the 250m buyout and restructuring of the BP Con-sumer Products arm in May 1993.

BP Consumer Products later became McBride and when it floated this year the two per cent stake would have been valued at 3.8m.

LGV, the venture capital subsidiary of one of the UK’s largest insurance companies, headed the consortium which took control of what is now McBride.

Hosking alleges after the take-over he was dropped and Mike Handley – whom Hosking says he introduced to the firm -took control. Handley is now McBride’s group md.