Quantum Blockchain confirms delay to Clear Leisure court proceedings

Quantum Blockchain Technologies updated the market on the Clear Leisure legal proceedings on Friday, reporting that the latest hearing for Clear Leisure 2017’s (CL17) action against Sipiem’s previous board and internal audit committee at the Venice Court has been temporarily suspended.

The AIM-traded firm, formerly named Clear Leisure as a result of a verbal notification to the judge at the opening of the hearing that one of the defendants has passed away.

CL17, as claimant, was now required as per the Italian code of civil procedure to take a further procedural step, notifying the heirs of the late defendant about the claim, as well as re-notifying all other defendants, which would result in a delay of the hearing of “a few months”.

“However, the company can inform shareholders that the independent expert has valued the economic value of the possible damages suffered by Sipiem at an amount of up to €7.8m, subject to the judge ruling that the conduct of Sipiem’s former board and internal audit committee was unlawful,” the board said in its statement.

“Although the independent valuation of the possible damages is lower than the company’s valuation of €10.8m, the company still regards this as a significant result for shareholders, as it confirms the vast majority of the company’s estimate of damages.

“Whilst the delay is disappointing, the company acknowledges the relevance of this key procedural step and maintains a positive outlook on the result of the litigation.”

Quantum Blockchain explained the procedure going forward, saying CL17 would first file a request with the court for the restart of the legal proceedings, following which the court would agree to a first hearing to restart the proceedings and allow the heirs of the defendant to agree to an appearance in court.

At that hearing, the court would agree to a second and final hearing, at which the parties would define their claims and the court would assign terms for the conclusive briefs.

Following that, each party’s legal counsel would have 80 days to file their conclusive briefs to the judge.

The judge’s ruling would then be expected within a 60 to 90 day time frame, following the end of the conclusive briefs period.

At 0848 BST, shares in Quantum Blockchain were down 18.49% at 1.59p.