Kovacevic Consult Inc., John Kovacevic, Paolo Venturi and Tommaso Ferrari are suing Coastal Contacts Inc. for allegedly bailing on a consulting agreement before Coastal raised $430 million from a European eyewear firm with their help.
Kovacevic filed a notice of civil claim in BC Supreme Court on August 1, claiming Coastal tapped the plaintiffs in 2008 to provide corporate development and brand awareness services and access to a large network of contacts in the European eyewear industry.
In 2012, according to the claim, the parties inked a “mandate agreement” to aid with a potential capital transaction that identified 14 target companies in the optical and eyewear business. The deal promised plaintiffs 5% of the “Aggregate Consideration received by Coastal.” The plaintiffs claim they then arranged meetings with their contacts at Essilor International for Coastal to discuss potential capital transactions, with Essilor first proposing a debt-based transaction, then shifting to an equity-based transaction proposal.
They arranged to travel to Vancouver from Europe in May 2013, but Coastal allegedly postponed the meeting the day before the plaintiffs planned to leave. Later, in December 2013, plaintiffs contacted Coastal about interest from another target company.
In response, Coastal informed the plaintiffs that it was “not seeking additional capital at this time,” the claim states.
The plaintiffs then learned Coastal had hired another financial adviser to assist with the Essilor deal, which completed in April 2014, worth approximately $430 million.
The plaintiffs seek damages for breach of contract and loss of opportunity. The allegations have not been proven in court and the defendant had not filed a response by press time.
