Bailiffs begin seizing SouthPeak stock
40,000 games taken from warehouse to be sold at auction; payment from Centresoft frozen to be redirected to CDV
Bailiffs have seized 40,000 units of stock owned by SouthPeak Interactive in the UK, GamesIndustry.biz can reveal, as the company apparently continues to delay payments owed to ex-publishing partners.
In new developments which appear contrary to details that SouthPeak has given its investors, a legal case with CDV for over $3.4 million has not been resolved, according to lawyers acting on its behalf. Third Party Debt Orders – redirecting payments to SouthPeak to its creditors instead – are now being put in place.
"It's not settled, it never was settled," said Lawrence Abramson, partner at Fladgate LLP, acting for CDV in the UK. "There were discussions about a settlement but they never concluded them and most importantly they've only paid $100,000. That's exactly what they have paid."
German publisher CDV Software Interactive went into liquidation earlier in the year due to non-payment by SouthPeak, with the UK offices of CDV also forced to close for good at the start of June.
"We have sent High Court Enforcement Officers in last Friday and they took 40,000 units - two trucks worth of stock - out of the warehouse that SouthPeak uses. They had until yesterday to apply to court to stop that being sold at auction and as far as I'm aware they didn't make an application," detailed Abramson.
"We've also frozen the money from their distributor Centresoft," he confirmed.
Third Party Debt Orders are in place to stop Centresoft paying SouthPeak, and pending a hearing on August 11, those payments could be redirected to CDV unless SouthPeak can make a compelling argument against the action.
Fladgate said it would continue to pursue monies owed by SouthPeak until CDV is paid in full.
"If we haven't been paid in full, then we will carry on doing it again and again. We'll go after more stock and more receivables," warned Abramson, adding that there's the possibility of freezing SouthPeak bank accounts, but that such a move could be counter-productive at this stage.
"It's no secret that CDV is currently in dispute with SouthPeak Games along with many other companies, whilst CDV is itself in administration," said SouthPeak MD Jonathan Hales, when asked to comment on the actions of CDV and its lawyers.
"SouthPeak Games is continuing business as normal and will endeavour to defend itself vehemently and is certain that the proceedings will come to a positive conclusion through the appropriate channels in the near future."
SouthPeak reported profits of $192,000 for the third quarter ended March 31, and improvement over the loss of $692,00O for the same period last year.
Titles released by SouthPeak include 3D Dot Game Heroes, Dementium, Two Worlds and TNA Impact.