Forbes family sues Chinese investors that bought stake in company

The family behind Forbes magazine has sued the Chinese investors that acquired a majority stake in the U.S. business news publisher last year, alleging that they have refused to pay a substantial portion of the promised price, reports James Fontanella-Khan and Henry Mance of the Financial Times.

Fontanella-Khan and Mance report, “Integrated Whale Media Investments, the Hong-Kong based vehicle that bought the stake, is accused of breaching its contractual agreement after the deal completed, according to a copy of the complaint seen by the FT in which the financial details were redacted.

“‘From the outset of the supposed partnership, Integrated Whale and its principals have steadfastly refused to pay what they clearly owe, and instead have made a series of baseless — and often patently false — excuses and pretexts for their refusal to honour their basic contractual commitments,’ Forbes family entities said in their lawsuit, which was filed in Delaware.

“Integrated Whale borrowed an undisclosed amount from the Forbes family to finance the deal in September 2014, according to the complaint. It failed to make the first quarterly interest payment on October 1 last year and refused to disburse the funds after it was contacted by Forbes, it is claimed.”

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