On December 10, Calvin Choi, chairman of Hong Kong–based mostly AMTD Group, attended a trend present on the London Inventory Alternate marking the secondary itemizing of AMTD’s media and luxurious subsidiary, The Era Necessities Group (TGE). TGE, which owns The Artwork Newspaper and the long-lasting French trend journal L’Officiel, had debuted on the New York Inventory Alternate six months earlier with one other catwalk get together. The glitzy London occasion, the place fashions wearing Vivienne Westwood posed for photographers, marked one other milestone in AMTD’s fast growth into cultural belongings.
However AMTD was parading these manufacturers earlier than buyers in London and New York towards a backdrop of lawsuits in France and Hong Kong introduced by their former house owners. The Jalou household, longtime house owners of L’Officiel, which celebrated its one centesimal anniversary in 2021, and Russian writer Inna Bazhenova, former proprietor of The Artwork Newspaper, declare they haven’t acquired full cost for his or her publications.
L’Officiel was acquired for roughly $57 million, whereas The Artwork Newspaper seems to have been acquired for round $16–17 million. In TGE’s IPO filings reviewed by ARTnews, L’Officiel is valued at about $100 million, and The Artwork Newspaper at about $50 million.
AMTD disputes Bazhenova and the Jalou household’s claims and says it has totally paid for each acquisitions. In an electronic mail to ARTnews, Clifford Probability, the regulation agency representing AMTD, wrote, “We verify that our shopper AMTD has duly accomplished the acquisition of The Artwork Newspaper (‘TAN’) and our shopper is the worldwide proprietor of TAN and TAN’s mental properties.”
Clifford Probability didn’t reply to requests for remark concerning L’Officiel or the Jalou household’s claims.
Choi, a former auditor who labored at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Citigroup, and UBS, has constructed AMTD by itemizing subsidiaries on varied exchanges quite than taking the group public as a single consolidated entity. AMTD itself has by no means been listed in Hong Kong. In September 2023, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Fee (SFC) imposed a two-year trade ban on Choi for failing to reveal conflicts of curiosity throughout his time at UBS, regarding conduct between 2014 and 2015.
Within the years that adopted, Choi and firms linked to him turned embroiled in disputes involving regulators, former employees, and buyers. One of the outstanding concerned China Minsheng Funding Group (CMIG), an early institutional backer of AMTD, which publicly accused Choi in 2020 of misconduct associated to its funding and later introduced complaints to regulators and the courts. Choi denied wrongdoing, describing the dispute as a business disagreement.
Public accusations from CMIG, regulatory motion by the SFC, and associated courtroom instances have continued to play out each legally and within the media. Whereas Choi and his corporations have persistently rejected the claims, the recurring clashes with high-profile counterparties have helped cement his popularity as one of many extra controversial and polarizing figures in Hong Kong’s monetary sector.
The acquisition of L’Officiel was accomplished in January 2022, whereas The Artwork Newspaper deal closed in October 2023. A lot of the litigation now unfolding in France and Hong Kong stems from occasions that adopted these transactions.
Shares ‘Parked and Frozen’
On the middle of the dispute involving the previous proprietor of The Artwork Newspaper is just not the deal construction itself, however what occurred afterward.
In Hong Kong courtroom filings from late 2024, Bazhenova and her enterprise accomplice, Gleb Ibragimov, mentioned that a part of the acquisition value for The Artwork Newspaper was paid in AMTD shares. They allege that, underneath the deal, these shares needed to be held by means of the designated brokerage AMTD Capital Markets, AMTD’s subsidiary brokerage division in Hong Kong. The brokerage was then renamed OoO and bought to a 3rd get together. Bazhenova and Ibragimov declare that after the change in possession they have been denied entry to their accounts and that the dealer refused to execute share gross sales even after sure lock-up intervals expired, leaving a part of the consideration unrealized. Court docket filings don’t disclose the newspaper’s sale value, nor has it been publicly introduced.
Bazhenova and Ibragimov requested the Hong Kong Excessive Court docket for an asset preservation order to freeze a part of their shares, however the courtroom dismissed the applying and awarded prices towards them. A supply near the case mentioned they’re additionally engaged in non-public arbitration towards AMTD in Hong Kong. Neither Bazhenova and Ibragimov, nor the regulation agency representing OoO, Gibson Dunn, responded to requests for remark from ARTnews.
For the reason that acquisitions of L’Officiel and The Artwork Newspaper, the authorized disputes have performed out alongside risky buying and selling in AMTD-linked corporations, together with TGE, which was shaped as a SPAC, or particular objective acquisition firm—a kind of shell firm designed to take companies public with fewer regulatory filings. TGE positioned L’Officiel and The Artwork Newspaper as core belongings in its IPO filings. Current earnings at AMTD Digital, TGE’s mother or father firm, have been boosted by vital one-off beneficial properties, and solely a small variety of shares in TGE have been publicly floated—i.e., made out there for buyers to commerce. As a result of so few shares flow into freely, even modest shopping for or promoting can push costs sharply up or down, intensifying swings in worth. These situations have heightened scrutiny of how TGE and its mother or father firm report the worth of their cultural belongings to buyers.
The Jalous’s case
In March 2025, the Jalou household filed a felony grievance with the Paris public prosecutor’s workplace, alleging trademark infringement, tax fraud, and misuse of company belongings in reference to AMTD’s acquisition of L’Officiel. The grievance was assigned to the monetary investigations unit of the Paris judicial police.
The deal between the Jalou household and AMTD stipulates that AMTD purchase L’Officiel Inc. from the Jalous, which included Les Éditions Jalou (LEJ). LEJ is the journal’s writer and owns its emblems, digital platform, and licenses. The Jalous argue that, just like the deal for The Artwork Newspaper, AMTD’s buy settlement for L’Officiel required that the household open brokerage accounts with AMTD Capital Markets to obtain and commerce shares. The household informed ARTnews, through its Paris-based regulation agency Bekerman Cadeo, that it was capable of promote a part of its holding, realizing about $15 million, however mentioned that greater than half of the remaining shares—together with associated money proceeds—later turned inaccessible.
L’Officiel, which was bought to AMTD for $57 million, was later deployed in a stock-market itemizing by means of TGE at a far larger valuation, near $100 million in keeping with TGE’s prospectus. Collectors, staff, and regulators have raised eyebrows at TGE’s valuation of L’Officiel at almost $100 million. The determine comes from TGE’s personal IPO filings, which pitch the model as “new” whereas nonetheless counting on its full historical past and archives courting again to 1921.
Beneath SEC and UK Monetary Conduct Authority guidelines, corporations are required to reveal vital ongoing authorized proceedings that might have an effect on share value or market notion earlier than itemizing. Requested whether or not AMTD disclosed the lawsuits in its IPO filings, the SEC and FCA declined to remark. Prospectus filings reviewed by ARTnews didn’t reference the authorized proceedings described in France and Hong Kong. Clifford Probability didn’t reply to ARTnews’ questions on whether or not AMTD disclosed these disputes previous to itemizing.
Based in 2003 with backing from CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong conglomerate linked to billionaire Li Ka-shing, AMTD initially targeted on monetary providers. Since 2019, Choi has overseen abroad listings of AMTD-related entities, steadily utilizing shares quite than money to finance acquisitions.
The Jalou household mentioned that though the 2022 transaction was publicly valued at $57 million, the efficient worth at closing was nearer to $30 million, with cost made solely in shares of AMTD subsidiary, AMTD IDEA Group.
“L’Officiel is just not an peculiar monetary asset; it’s a century-old establishment of French trend,” Céline Bekerman and Antoine Cadeo informed ARTnews. “Its historical past and the individuals who have formed it can’t be handed over to predatory logic.”
The household mentioned that when it was instructed in April 2022 to open a brokerage account, AMTD Capital Markets was managed by AMTD Group. Nonetheless, later that yr it was bought and renamed OoO. Like Bazhenova and Ibragimov, the Jalou household alleges it was not knowledgeable of the sale. The Jalous mentioned they continued coping with employees they believed to be AMTD staff. After they later sought to switch remaining shares and money to a French brokerage, the household says the requests went unanswered.
Legal professionals for the Jalou household allege that AMTD subsequently created offshore entities, registered new emblems, and tried to redirect worldwide licensing agreements for L’Officiel. This occurred regardless of the journal’s Paris-based writer, LEJ, being underneath a court-approved continuation plan operating till 2028 that restricts disposal of the enterprise with out judicial approval. French prosecutors confirmed receipt of the grievance to Agence France Presse (AFP) and mentioned the investigation issues alleged trademark infringement, tax fraud, and misuse of company belongings.
In these filings, L’Officiel was valued at roughly €85 million ($93 million), considerably larger than the beforehand disclosed $57 million sale value.
Regardless of ongoing disputes, AMTD repackaged L’Officiel and The Artwork Newspaper as core belongings of TGE, which went public in New York and later listed in London. In its IPO filings reviewed by ARTnews, TGE reported that it licenses the L’Officiel model from AMTD for round $100 million and The Artwork Newspaper model for about $50 million. TGE’s shares initially rose following its listings however later fell sharply, echoing volatility seen in earlier AMTD-related IPOs. In 2022, AMTD Digital briefly surged almost 5,000 p.c after itemizing in New York earlier than collapsing, drawing scrutiny from buyers and regulators.
Recent authorized motion
On January 15, simply days after ARTnews wrote to AMTD for remark, AMTD Group and its affiliated listed entities introduced that that they had launched new authorized motion towards Bazhenova and Ibragimov, alleging intimidation, malicious falsehood, breach of confidence, and consequential loss. In a press launch, AMTD mentioned it had totally paid the consideration for The Artwork Newspaper acquisition in money and shares and that the locked-up shares have been all the time registered in Bazhenova and Ibragimov’s personal names.
“AMTD has acquired varied communications with the obvious intention of blackmail and harassment, and it’s due to this fact taking authorized actions, together with reporting these wrongful acts to regulation enforcement,” Clifford Probability informed ARTnews in an electronic mail in January. “You’ll respect that such issues are confidential and our shopper won’t present any additional remark right now.” The agency didn’t reply to additional questions.
AMTD additional alleged that in January 2026 Ibragimov despatched messages indicating a willingness to reveal confidential deal info to 3rd events, together with journalists, except AMTD agreed to resolve issues in Bazhenova’s favor—conduct AMTD mentioned it reported to regulation enforcement authorities.
Court docket filings reviewed by ARTnews present that whereas the Hong Kong Excessive Court docket dismissed Bazhenova and Ibragimov’s utility for an asset preservation order and awarded prices towards them, it left their underlying claims for damages and different reduction to be determined in a substantive motion. Though the interlocutory preservation request was rejected, their civil lawsuit alleging breaches of obligation and looking for compensation stays ongoing, with no public report of an attraction or closing judgment so far.
