(Bloomberg) -- British dealmaker Ian Hannam sued Barrick Gold Corp. over unpaid fees for advice he gave on its tie-up with Randgold Resources in 2018, a deal he said wouldn’t have happened without him.
Hannam alleges in the London court case that he is owed as much as $18 million for the “extensive and transformative work” Hannam & Partners carried out on the merger that created the world’s biggest gold miner at the time.
“Failing to recognize our role was very upsetting to me,” Hannam said in a witness statement prepared for the trial.
The lawsuit involves some of the best-known names in dealmaking and mining. The claim lays out the months of negotiations between Hannam, Barrick Gold chair John Thornton and then-Randgold CEO Mark Bristow, who is now CEO of Barrick.
Hannam says that he struck an oral agreement to be paid at least $10 million while Barrick’s lawyers counter that there is no evidence to back that claim up. Both Bristow and Thornton “knew full well that this deal would not have happened without me,” Hannam said in the court filings.
Lawyers for Barrick said Hannam’s claims of an oral agreement are “categorically denied” and said that Randgold and Barrick had “already been discussing a potential merger for years.” His claim for payment is “misconceived” and contains “fundamental flaws.”
Thornton said in a witness statement that “it strikes me as highly unlikely, however, that I would have “agreed” to anything with Mr. Hannam.”
“I had in my mind for many years and knew that I did not need Hannam’s help to do a merger,” Thornton said giving testimony in court on Monday.
Hannam, a former officer in the British army was once JPMorgan Chase & Co. mining adviser and worked on some of the industry’s biggest deals at the height of the China fueled commodity super cycle, including Glencore Plc’s takeover of Xstrata Plc.
Still, he has also been a controversial figure. He was fined $450,000 (£352,490) in 2012 by the UK markets watchdog for disclosing inside information.
--With assistance from Thomas Biesheuvel.
(Updates with John Thornton’s witness statements in the seventh paragraph)
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