Irish company and subsidiaries
We were appointed by Eversheds O’Donnell Sweeney to assist with their role and function as “monitoring trustee”. The monitoring arrangement was in relation to an entity, which was the subject of an up-front divestment agreement. The divestment was a condition associated with the Competition Authority’s approval of a proposed merger that required the company to divest itself of an identified business entity to a suitable purchaser.
We assisted the “monitoring trustee” in the provision of specialised accountancy services by carrying out a monthly review of the entities activities and giving an opinion on the ongoing viability, marketability and competitiveness of the divested business during the period.
Details of our findings from our monthly accounting review were required to be submitted to the “monitoring trustee” to form part of their monthly report to the Competition Authority in the matter.
Dutch listed company
Grant Thornton was appointed by a Dutch listed company to assess the profits earned by an Irish company from an alleged breach of intellectual property.
Paul Jacobs provided expert evidence in the Court of Appeal in the Netherlands in respect of the work undertaken by Grant Thornton.
The judge accepted our evidence that the profit contribution had been incorrectly calculated by the defendant Irish company, and accepted our expert opinion that “cost of sales” should have been calculated using actual costs and not “notional” costs where the defendant manufactures component parts of the product subject to the “account of profits” basis.