Alleged consultancy fee claim against KESP: UK court dismisses SAGE attempts to enforce, obtain payment
ISLAMABAD: The High Court of Justice, Business and Property Courts of England and Wales (Commercial Court) has dismissed attempts by SAGE Venture Group to enforce or obtain payment in respect of an alleged consultancy fee claim against Kes Power Limited (KESP), confirming the primacy of Mashreq Bank’s security and preserving the existing receivership structure.
According to the judgement, in Abraaj Investment Management Limited (in liquidation) & Ors v Kes Power Limited & Ors (2026) EWHC 65 (Comm), Lord Justice Foxton declined to grant enforcement or payment relief sought in relation to the claim. The Court held that the overwhelming majority of the alleged receivable, approximately USD37 million, had been validly assigned to Mashreq Bank as early as 2017, well before any later acquisition of economic interests by SAGE. The original shareholders of KESP, namely Al Jomaih from Saudi Arabia and Dunham from Kuwait supported the claim of Mashreq Bank as having been properly obtained.
As a result, no payment was ordered, no enforcement rights were conferred, and no disruption to Mashreq’s security or receivership arrangements was permitted.
The proceedings relate to consultancy fees and expenses accumulated over 2008-2022 by KESP, a Cayman Islands holding company with an indirect interest in Pakistan’s power sector through its shareholding in K-Electric. K-Electric was not a party to the proceedings, and the Court expressly made no findings affecting ownership, control, or governance of the utility.
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SAGE claimed to have acquired a purported economic interest in the consultancy fee claim in 2022 from the liquidators of Abraaj Investment Management, administered by Alvarez & Marsal. However, the Court confirmed that any such interest is structurally subordinate to Mashreq’s prior security, leaving SAGE with only a limited, residual, and unsecured position that cannot presently be enforced or monetised. This security had been properly provided by Abraaj at the time to Mashreq, one of its major lenders, prior to going into liquidation in 2018.
The judgment represents a clear affirmation of Mashreq Bank’s secured position and materially undermines the enforcement and monetisation strategy advanced by SAGE. By preserving the receivership and rejecting enforcement relief, the Court has reinforced the existing capital and security structure surrounding KESP.
Within the broader and long-running shareholder disputes relating to K-Electric, the decision also eliminates the financial and strategic relevance of the KESP claim by SAGE, which used its theoretical acquisition of the claim from Deloitte, the liquidators of AIML for USD 18 million in 2022 as the basis for asserting control over KESP, the holding entity for the overseas owners of K-Electric. Competing shareholder groups, including Al Jomaih Power and Denham Investments, have consistently challenged attempts to leverage the SAGE claims as a means of influence within the investment structure and were always in assent to Mashreq’s position of a validly assigned receivable from 2017 when Abraaj was still in control. The Court’s ruling now confirms that no such leverage arises for SAGE from the consultancy receivable.
While the Court acknowledged that a consultancy claim may exist at a theoretical level, it made clear that priority, control, and enforcement lie with Mashreq Bank, leaving no basis for payment, pressure, or structural intervention in favour of SAGE.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026