The legal battle surrounding one of Greece’s largest marble producers is expanding beyond Athens and into London, opening a second front in a dispute that now combines criminal allegations in Greece with looming civil litigation in the U.K.
Christoforos Pavlidis, a member of the family behind Pavlidis S.A. Marble-Granites, is facing mounting scrutiny over the 2023 sale of the company to investment fund ECM Partners in a deal valued at roughly €266 million. Family members who sold their stakes now allege the transaction was structured to pressure shareholders into accepting a significantly undervalued offer before control of the company was returned to Pavlidis himself only months later.
The allegations are set out in a formal pre-action letter sent by U.K. law firm Brabners LLP, which represents several members of the Pavlidis family. The letter, dated May 22, warns that unless a substantive response is received by June 12, legal proceedings may be filed before the High Court of England and Wales without further notice.
The dispute centers on claims that key information about the company’s reserves of high-quality marble was withheld from shareholders ahead of the sale. According to the letter, exploratory drilling conducted between 2021 and early 2023 at the “Geranogefyra” quarry—part of the company’s flagship Ariston mining area—revealed commercially valuable reserves that were never disclosed to other shareholders. Instead, claimants allege they were presented with a narrative of declining reserves, liquidity pressure and deteriorating long-term prospects.
Those representations, the claimants argue, were instrumental in convincing family shareholders to approve the transaction.
The sale closed in March 2023 and included Pavlidis S.A. along with Enerfarm 2, part of the family’s energy portfolio. Yet only a few months later, Christoforos Pavlidis allegedly reacquired the company in a deal valued at approximately €303 million, according to the letter. The claimants describe that sequence as fundamentally contradictory, arguing that a company portrayed as financially constrained and facing diminishing prospects was quickly repurchased at a substantially higher valuation.
The emerging London case comes as Greek prosecutors are already pursuing felony fraud charges linked to the same broader dispute. While the Greek proceedings focus on potential criminal liability, the U.K. action appears aimed at financial restitution and damages, creating a dual-track legal confrontation spanning two jurisdictions.
The choice of London was driven in part by the original Share Purchase Agreement, which reportedly included an English law and jurisdiction clause assigning disputes to the courts of England and Wales. For international commercial litigants, English courts remain a favored venue for handling complex fraud, misrepresentation and corporate governance disputes involving cross-border transactions.
The claimants are also challenging the financing structure behind the acquisition. According to the letter, there is little evidence that entities involved in the transaction contributed meaningful equity capital of their own, with bank financing allegedly used largely to compensate exiting shareholders. Additional questions are raised about subsequent transfers of ownership and payments that, according to the allegations, cannot be fully traced through documented bank transfers.
A key element of the dispute is the valuation gap between the original transaction and a later independent assessment. The letter cites a Deloitte expert report prepared in 2025 as part of the Greek criminal investigation, which allegedly valued Pavlidis S.A. at €466.2 million—far above the approximately €260 million attributed to the company in the 2023 transaction. Based on that valuation, the claimants estimate that the company was sold at roughly €206 million below its fair value, resulting in losses exceeding €133 million for shareholders collectively holding 64.58% of the business.
Brabners LLP said its clients remain open to mediation or an out-of-court settlement, provided acceptable terms can be reached. Failing that, the case could soon move into the British courts, adding an international commercial dimension to a dispute already reshaping one of Greece’s most prominent family-owned industrial businesses.
