Musst Holdings Ltd v Astra Asset Management UK Ltd & Anor [2021] EWHC 3432 (Ch)

Peter Knox QC (instructed by Collyer Bristow LLP) for the Claimant.

Introduction

This judgment arises out of two claims heard together, one referred to as the “Contract Claim” and the other as the “Defamation Claim”.  In the Contract Claim (which is Claim No BL-2018-002369), Musst Holdings Limited sues  Astra Asset Management UK Limited (“Astra UK”) and Astra Asset Management LLP (“Astra LLP”) for fees for effecting two introductions, and for access to their books and records to assess all the fees that are properly due to them or an account.  The term “Musst” is used for Musst Holdings Limited.  Where it is intended to refer to the Musst group of companies, the term “MUSST” is used.  The term “Astra” is used collectively for the Defendants in the Contract Claim.  In the Defamation Claim (which is Claim No BL-2019-001483), Astra UK and Astra Capital International Limited (“Astra Capital”) sue Mr Siddiqi and Musst Investments LLP (“Musst LLP”) on the basis that Mr Siddiqi, while acting on behalf of Musst  LLP, made defamatory oral statements about them in Rome in June 2016. The term Astra is also used collectively in context to refer to the Claimants in the Defamation Claim.  These and other statements also form the subject matter of the counterclaim in the Contract Claim.

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