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Irish Times
10-07-2025
- Irish Times
Conor McGregor whiskey dispute man to provide sworn statement on why information not revealed earlier
A man who claims he is entitled to 5 per cent of a Conor McGregor-founded whiskey brand is to provide a sworn statement on why information found on an old phone was not revealed earlier and delayed the hearing of the case, the High Court heard. Artem Lobov, former MMA sparring partner of Mr McGregor, claims he was involved in the creation of and worked on the initial setting up of the Proper Number Twelve Irish whiskey brand which was reported to be sold for $600 million (€513 million) to Proximo Spirits in 2021. Mr McGregor was reported to have received $130 million from the sale. Proximo cut ties with Mr McGregor and the brand following last year's separate High Court action in which a civil jury found he should pay almost €250,000 for raping a woman, Nikita Hand, in a Dublin hotel in December 2018. Mr McGregor appealed and a decision on the appeal is awaited. Mr Lobov originally claimed he made an oral agreement about the whiskey brand in a gym in September 2017. Mr McGregor said he was in Ibiza that September and could not have been present on that date. READ MORE However, as Mr Lobov was preparing for the hearing of his case, he found an old mobile phone last March which clarified the meeting at which the agreement was made was October 9th, 2017, not in September. As a result, a hearing date for the case had to be vacated after Mr McGregor's side said it had completely changed the claim they had to meet and they needed time to deal with it. A formal application was made to allow Mr Lobov amend his pleadings, was opposed by the McGregor side, but granted by the court and a new date for hearing proposed for next October. On Thursday, the case was mentioned by Andrew Walker SC, for Mr Lobov, before Ms Justice Nessa Cahill who said his side was making further discovery in preparation for the hearing. It will come in the form of an affidavit from Mr Lobov which will provide an explanation as to why the phone was not revealed sooner. Catriona Cannon BL, for Mr McGregor, consented to this but said she would like the case mentioned next week in case her side needed to respond to the additional discovery. Ms Justice Cahill put the case into a list to fix dates for hearing later this month. This will provide the parties with an opportunity to say the case is ready for hearing in October.
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Irish Times
High Court allows McGregor whiskey dispute to proceed
The hearing of a High Court dispute over an alleged oral agreement giving 5 per cent of a Conor McGregor-founded whiskey brand to his former MMA sparring partner will go ahead later this year after a judge approved moves to amend the date of the original claim. Ms Justice Nessa Cahill, on Wednesday, granted Artem Lobov permission to amend his pleadings in the case in which he claims Mr McGregor made an oral agreement with him for a 5 per cent share, made in a gym in 2017. The court heard Mr Lobov is now saying the meeting at which the oral agreement was made took place on October 9th, 2017, not September 2017 as originally claimed. It arose after Mr Lobov, while preparing for the hearing, found an old mobile phone which clarified the meeting was not in September 2017. It was also in circumstances where Mr Lobov knew Mr McGregor had been defeated in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in August 2017. The court heard Mr McGregor was in Ibiza in September and said he could not have been present on the date Mr Lobov originally claimed. READ MORE Russia-born Mr Lobov claims he was involved in the creation of, and working on setting up, the 'Proper Number Twelve' Irish whiskey brand which was reported to be sold for US$600 million (€530 million) to Proximo Spirits in 2021. Mr McGregor was reported to have received $130 million from the sale. Proximo cut ties with Mr McGregor and the brand following last year's separate High Court action in which a civil jury found he should pay almost €250,000 for raping a woman, Nikita Hand, in a Dublin hotel in December 2018. That decision is being appealed. The hearing of the whiskey claim was due to go ahead this week but was postponed to allow Mr Lobov, who lives in Mulhuddart, Dublin, apply to amend his case after he had discovered the old phone with information alerting him to the October date. The McGregor side, who denied there was any oral agreement, opposed the amendment. On Wednesday, after hearing arguments from lawyers for both sides, Ms Justice Cahill said she was satisfied to allow the amendment. She approved directions for the progress of the case to hearing but noted it is unlikely to get a date until after the long courts vacation. Earlier Andrew Walker SC said Mr Lobov had told his solicitor Dermot McNamara that he discovered the old phone in March. While his side accepted it would have been far better if the amendment to the claim had been made sooner, the law was clear that a litigant can bring an application to amend at any time and the court has a wide ranging discretion to grant it. This was not a case where there was irredeemable prejudice to the defendant and it was also not bound to fail, which are the only two barriers to an amendment, he said. He accepted the defence was going to have to meet its three witnesses who were to give evidence on behalf of Mr McGregor so they can now have to deal with where they were in the relevant week of October 2017. This was not insurmountable but it would take more time, he said. Mr Walker also accepted the amendment will have cost implications for his client. Remy Farrell SC, for Mr McGregor, agreed there was no irredeemable prejudice or that the case was bound to fail. 'But those who receive absolution have to admit the sin or at least provide an explanation as to how this occurred', he said. There was 'no interest' on the part of the Lobov side to address that, he said. 'The reason was to secure a litigious advantage as something that could be dealt with on the day of the trial', he said. It arose in circumstances where after Mr Lobov told his lawyer about the new phone, a decision was taken not to reveal this until the eleventh hour, he said. The court would, in those circumstances, be entitled to not grant permission to amend the case but could otherwise have been granted, he said. Ms Justice Cahill said she would give reasons in a written judgment in due course for her decision to allow the amendment along with dealing with the question of costs.
BreakingNews.ie
21-05-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Conor McGregor whiskey dispute to go ahead after change to claim is allowed
A High Court dispute over a Conor McGregor-founded whiskey brand will go ahead later this year after a judge approved moves to amend the date of the original claim. Ms Justice Nessa Cahill on Wednesday granted Artem Lobov permission to amend his pleadings in the case, in which he claims Mr McGregor made an oral agreement with him for a 5 per cent share made in a gym in 2017. Advertisement The court heard Mr Lobov is now saying the meeting at which the oral agreement was made took place on October 9th, 2017, not September 2017 as originally claimed. It arose after Mr Lobov, while preparing for the hearing, found an old mobile phone which clarified the meeting was not in September 2017. It was also in circumstances where Mr Lobov knew Mr McGregor had been defeated in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in August 2017. The court heard Mr McGregor was in Ibiza in September and said he could not have been present on the date Mr Lobov originally claimed. Russia-born Mr Lobov claims he was involved in the creation of and working on setting up the "Proper Number Twelve" Irish whiskey brand which was reported to be sold for $600 million (€529 million) to Proximo Spirits in 2021. Mr McGregor was reported to have received $130 million from the sale. Proximo cut ties with Mr McGregor and the brand following last year's separate High Court action in which a civil jury found he should pay almost €250,000 for raping a woman, Nikita Hand, in a Dublin hotel in December 2018. That decision is being appealed. Advertisement The hearing of the whiskey claim was due to go ahead this week but was postponed to allow Mr Lobov, who lives in Mulhuddart, Dublin, apply to amend his case after he had discovered the old phone with information alerting him to the October date. The McGregor side, who denied there was any oral agreement, opposed the amendment. On Wednesday, after hearing arguments from lawyers for both sides, Ms Justice Cahill said she was satisfied to allow the amendment. She approved directions for the progress of the case to hearing but noted it is unlikely to get a date until after the long courts vacation. Earlier, Andrew Walker SC said Mr Lobov had told his solicitor Dermot McNamara solicitor that he discovered the old phone in March. Advertisement While his side accepted it would have been far better if the amendment to the claim had been made sooner, the law was clear that a litigant can bring an application to amend at any time and the court has a wide ranging discretion to grant it. This was not a case where there was irredeemable prejudice to the defendant and it was also not bound to fail, which are the only two barriers to an amendment, he said. He accepted the defence was going to have to meet its three witnesses who were to give evidence on behalf of Mr McGregor so they can now have to deal with where they were in the relevant week of October 2017. This was not insurmountable but it would take more time, he said. Mr Walker also accepted the amendment will have cost implications for his client. Advertisement Remy Farrell SC, for Mr McGregor, agreed there was no irredeemable prejudice or that the case was bound to fail. "But those who receive absolution have to admit the sin or at least provide an explanation as to how this occurred", he said. Ireland 'God bless Ireland': Conor McGregor attends anti-i... Read More There was "no interest" on the part of the Lobov side to address that, he said. "The reason was to secure a litigious advantage as something that could be dealt with on the day of the trial", he said. It arose in circumstances where after Mr Lobov told his lawyer about the new phone, a decision was taken not to reveal this until the 11th hour, he said. The court would, in those circumstances, be entitled to not grant permission to amend the case but could otherwise have been granted, he said. Ms Justice Cahill said she would give reasons in a written judgment in due course for her decision to allow the amendment along with dealing with the question of costs.
Irish Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Conor McGregor whiskey case hearing delayed following new information
The High Court hearing of a dispute over a claim by a former sparring partner of Conor McGregor for a share in a whiskey brand founded by the MMA fighter is not going ahead as planned next week after the case was 'fundamentally changed' to what was originally pleaded. The case by Russian Artem Lobov, claiming he had an oral agreement for a 5 per cent share made with Mr McGregor in a gym in September 2017, was due to begin next Tuesday with eight days set aside for the hearing. The case concerns Mr Lobov's claim for a share in creating the idea for and working on setting up the 'Proper Number Twelve' Irish whiskey brand. It was sold in 2021 to Proximo Spirits for a reported sum of up to US$600 million (€530 million). Mr McGregor was reported to have received $130 million from the sale. READ MORE Proximo cut ties with Mr McGregor and the brand following last year's separate High Court action in which a civil jury found he should pay almost €250,000 for raping a woman, Nikita Hand, in a Dublin hotel in December 2018. That decision is being appealed. On Thursday, a judge said he was reluctantly going to allow the case to proceed next week after he expressed concerns about whether or not it was ready. The court heard Mr Lobov's side was late in lodging pretrial legal submissions. This meant Mr McGregor's side was unable to have its submissions in before the case was due to begin. On Friday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan was told Mr Lobov's submissions had been received after Thursday's court hearing and they contained a proposal that the date of the alleged oral agreement was not as first claimed to be, in September 2017, but October 2017. Shelley Horan BL, for Mr McGregor, said her side had prepared the case on the basis that it was a September date that the alleged oral agreement was made and they had interviewed four people who were supposed to present when it occurred in a gym. As a result, it had significant implications for the case, which counsel had described as being primarily evidence based. Her side was prejudiced by this amendment to the case and would now need time to prepare for what would be a new claim. Ms Horan also said no specific date had been given for the September claim which had created challenges for the defendant in preparing the case. The defence denied there was any oral agreement. Andrew Walker SC, for Mr Lobov, accepted what had happened was wholly unacceptable but he was seeking leave to bring a motion to amend the case next week with an affidavit setting out the rationale as to why this had happened. Asked by Mr Justice Cregan why, when the court set the hearing date for next Tuesday, that the fact the case had 'changed fundamentally' had not been brought to the judge's attention, Mr Walker said he would like to have that put on affidavit. The new date is a month later, not months later or a different year, he said. New information was discovered by Mr Lobov on an old phone which gave him clarity about the date, he said. After the case was put back to later in the morning for Mr Walker to get instructions, counsel said he was agreeing to an adjournment of next week's hearing. The judge vacated the hearing date but said he would hear Mr Walker's application next week to amend the statement of claim to put in the new October date.
BreakingNews.ie
16-05-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Court dispute over McGregor whiskey delayed after 'fundamental' change to case
The High Court hearing of a dispute over a claim by a former sparring partner of Conor McGregor for a share in a whiskey brand founded by the MMA fighter is not going ahead as planned next week after the case was "fundamentally changed" to what was originally pleaded. The case by Artem Lobov, who claimed he had an oral agreement for a 5 per cent share made with Mr McGregor in a gym in September 2017, was due to begin next Tuesday, with eight days set aside for the hearing. Advertisement The case concerns Mr Lobov's claim for a share in creating the idea for and working on setting up the "Proper Number Twelve" Irish whiskey brand. It was sold in 2021 to Proximo Spirits for a reported sum of up to $600 million (€535 million), and Mr McGregor was reported to have received $130 million from the sale. Proximo cut ties with Mr McGregor and the brand following last year's separate High Court action in which a civil jury found he should pay almost €250,000 for raping a woman, Nikita Hand, in a Dublin hotel in December 2018. That decision is being appealed. On Thursday, a judge said he was reluctantly going to allow the case to proceed next week after he expressed concerns about whether or not it was ready. Advertisement The court heard Mr Lobov's side was late in lodging pre-trial legal submissions. This meant Mr McGregor's side was unable to have its submissions in before the case was due to begin. On Friday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan was told Mr Lobov's submissions had been received after Thursday's court hearing and they contained a proposal that the date of the alleged oral agreement was not as first claimed to be, in September 2017, but October 2017. Shelley Horan BL, for Mr McGregor, said her side had prepared the case on the basis that it was a September date that the alleged oral agreement was made, and they had interviewed four people who were supposed to be present when it occurred in a gym. As a result, it had significant implications for the case, which counsel had described as being primarily evidence-based. Her side was prejudiced by this amendment to the case and would now need time to prepare for what would be a new claim. Advertisement Ms Horan also said no specific date had been given for the September claim, which had created challenges for the defendant in preparing the case. The defence denied there was any oral agreement. Andrew Walker SC, for Mr Lobov, accepted that what had happened was wholly unacceptable, but he was seeking leave to bring a motion to amend the case next week with an affidavit setting out the rationale as to why this had happened. Ireland 'God bless Ireland': Conor McGregor attends anti-i... Read More Asked by Mr Justice Cregan why, when the court set the hearing date for next Tuesday, that the fact the case had "changed fundamentally" had not been brought to the judge's attention, Mr Walker said he would like to have that put on affidavit. The new date is a month later, not months later or a different year, he said. New information was discovered by Mr Lobov on an old phone which gave him clarity about the date, he said. Advertisement After the case was put back to later in the morning for Mr Walker to get instructions, counsel said he was agreeing to an adjournment of next week's hearing. The judge vacated the hearing date but said he would hear Mr Walker's application next week to amend the statement of claim to put in the new October date.
