Former Jaeger and Aquascutum owner Harold Tillman is preparing to take both Lloyds Bank and private equity firm Better Capital to court over their sale and subsequent demise.
In 2012 Lloyds Bank sold £16 million of Jaeger’s debt to Better Capital, in a move Tillman states was sprung on the business while he was on holiday without warning, adding that he was not offered the chance to finance the debt himself.
Tillman told The Telegraph that when Jaeger fell into administration for a second time last year, “they had written evidence of my personal wealth and a personal guarantee and they knew I was working on these other deals, but they went with ‘the bird in hand'”.
Jaeger subsequently fell into administration, with its new owners calling in debts from Tillman who had to take the money from his other business Aquascutum to pay, leading it to also fall into administration.
According to The Times, Lloyds and Better Capital have denied Tillman’s version of events, with the latter’s founder Jon Moulton stating: “We bought the debt from Lloyds Bank, then had to put money in the company as it was bankrupt. It was a normal transaction.”
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