Mediapolis saga continues as Clear Leisure appeals latest court ruling

The ongoing legal saga of Clear Leisure and its Mediapolis asset took a fresh turn on Tuesday, as the company confirmed both itself and its Mediapolis subsidiary have appealed the recent judgement of the Ivrea Court in the Appeal Court of Turin.

Its board had advised on 27 October that, “despite every effort to the contrary”, including the settlement of debts owing by the Mediapolis subsidiary amounting to €10m, the Ivrea Court had determined to rule in favour of the winding-up petition of the local prosecutor.

The AIM-traded firm had 30 days to appeal that decision under Italian law.

Clear Leisure explained that it is the beneficiary of a first charge on development land owned by Mediapolis up to an amount of €5.04m, whilst the Olivetti Multiservices’ debt of €4.29m recently acquired directly by Clear Leisure, provided an additional charge of €4m.

Following the winding-up ruling, that latter debt would not be converted into new Mediapolis shares, as originally planned.

“Under Italian law, creditors with first charges on assets have seniority on all other creditors with regard to the proceeds generated by the sale of the relevant assets,” Clear Leisure explained in its announcement on 27 October.

“Moreover, creditors beneficiaries of a first charge can negotiate the assignment of the assets against the credit existing certain assumptions foreseen by the Italian law.”

Given the administrative complexity of the relationship with Piedemont Region, the court reportedly could not achieve a value for the 497,884 square metre land plot, which took into account the full value of planning permission.

As a result, the court-appointed surveyor chose to assign a “very prudent valuation” of €3.86m.

Using the court valuation, the pro forma de-consolidation of Mediapolis as at 30 June resulted in a decrease of net assets of €2.7m based on the first charge on Mediapolis’s 497,884 square metre land plot, adopting the conservative approach used by the court of a €3.86m valuation, Clear Leisure explained.

“We must acknowledge the new situation and take advantage of the first charge secured on the Mediapolis land plot,” Clear Leisure’s CEO and executive chairman Francesco Gardin explained at the time.