UniCredit Bank Austria AG v. Inmobiliaria y Arrendadora Cuadro S.A. de C.V.

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided December 16, 2024·No. 2:23-cv-01991·Unknown

Opinion

WO

UniCredit Bank Austria AG, No. CV-23-01991-PHX-KML

Plaintiff, ORDER

v.

Inmobiliaria y Arrendadora Cuadro S.A. de C.V., et al., Defendantss. Plaintiff UniCredit Bank Austria AG provided Defendant Inmobiliaria y Arrendadora Cuadro S.A. de C.V (“IyAC”) with a multi-million-dollar dual tranche loan to purchase plastic manufacturing equipment. UniCredit denied IyAC’s request for the second tranche after IyAC failed to make payments on the first, resulting in IyAC’s default on multiple other agreements contingent on IyAC securing financing. IyAC initiated arbitration against UniCredit, but the arbitrator ruled against IyAC and awarded damages to UniCredit. In this suit, UniCredit attempts to confirm the arbitration award against IyAC and asserts claims against other entities and individuals allegedly involved with IyAC. Some of UniCredit’s claims, against some of defendants, are sufficient to proceed beyond the pleading stage, so defendants’ motions to dismiss are denied in part. I. Background IyAC is a family-run plastic film manufacturing company operated by Amalia Cecilia Luna Contreras (“Luna Contreras”) and her son Miguel Angel Peredo Luna (“Peredo Luna”). (Doc. 29 at 2, 4.) IyAC is a Mexican company with assets and operations in Arizona. (Doc. 29 at 2.) In 2016, IyAC started negotiating a loan (the “Credit Agreement”) with UniCredit, an Austrian bank. (Doc. 29 at 1, 7.) Under the Credit Agreement, UniCredit would make two loans available to IyAC: one in the amount of €3,351,600 (“Facility A”) and another in the amount of €3,145,500 (“Facility B”). (Doc. 29 at 11.) This financing would be used to purchase plastic extrusion equipment from SML Maschinenbaugesellschaft mbH (“SML”). (Doc. 29 at 4, 7.) The equipment would be delivered to Zummit, a Nevada corporation that Luna Contreras and Peredo Luna represented was IyAC’s “100%-owned subsidiary.” (Doc. 29 at 6–8.) The Credit Agreement provided any dispute “arising out of or in connection” with the transaction would be subject to arbitration by Austria’s Vienna International Arbitral Centre under its Rules of Arbitration and Conciliation. (Doc. 29 at 15.) A. Material Misrepresentations UniCredit alleges that IyAC, Zummit, and Peredo Luna made false statements and omissions during negotiations that were intended to induce UniCredit to enter into the Credit Agreement. (Doc. 29 at 8–10.) Many of the false statements and omissions involved the relationship between various organizations. For example, “IyAC, Zummit and Mr. Peredo Luna each provided [UniCredit] with entity organization charts showing, among other things, IyAC to have a 100% ownership interest in Zummit.” (Doc. 29 at 8.) Luna Contreras signed “all but one of these entity organization charts[.]” (Doc. 29 at 8.) One of the charts provided by Peredo Luna and signed by Luna Contreras displayed “Inmobiliaria y Arrendadora Grupo, Mexico” (IyAG) as the “100%” owner of Zummit. (Doc. 29 at 8–9 (emphasis added).) Other documents identified IyAC, i.e. Inmobiliaria y Arrendadora Cuadro, as the owner. UniCredit asked Peredo Luna about this discrepancy and he stated, IyAG “is ‘like our dba (Comercial [sic] name).’” (Doc. 29 at 9.) UniCredit later discovered that “Zummit’s annual filings with the State of Arizona for 2017, 2018 and 2019 state that ‘Fruma Plastics’ was Zummit’s shareholder.” (Doc. 29 at 9.) IyAC and Peredo Luna also provided UniCredit with IyAC’s 2015, 2016, and 2017 audited financial statements. (Doc. 29 at 10.) These statements too “were for ‘Inmobiliaria y Arrendadora Grupo’ but per Mr. Peredo Luna’s assertion, and as confirmed by the auditor who prepared the statements, this was understood by [UniCredit] to be a dba for, and refer to, IyAC.” (Doc. 29 at 10.) UniCredit alleges these statements were materially false because they failed to disclose two pending litigation claims against IyAC, including one reduced to judgment in 2017. (Doc. 29 at 10.) IyAC also represented there were “no security interests on its assets” when its real estate was in fact subject to two large mortgages. (Doc. 29 at 10.) UniCredit relied on the statements and entered into the Credit Agreement. (Doc. 29 at 3.) B. The Joint Venture Agreement Shortly before entering the Credit Agreement, IyAC and Zummit entered into a Joint Venture Agreement (the “JVA”) with one another. (Doc. 29 at 12.) Peredo Luna signed on Zummit’s behalf and another individual acting on Peredo Luna’s instructions signed on IyAC’s behalf. (Doc. 29 at 12.) Under the JVA, IyAC would “contribute the SML Equipment” to the joint venture and Zummit would “obtain a real estate facility in Arizona for the SML Equipment.” (Doc. 29 at 12.) The parties agreed Zummit would receive 70% of the venture’s profits and IyAC would receive 30%. (Doc. 29 at 12.) The JVA provided that in the event of a breach—which it did not define—the breaching party would pay the other party a $5 million penalty. (Doc. 29 at 12.) The JVA also contained a strange provision requiring that IyAC collaterally assign to Zummit 1,000,000 shares in Zummit as a form of security if IyAC breached the JVA. (Doc. 29 at 12.) “Zummit’s Articles of Incorporation authorized the issuance of 1,000,000 shares, and therefore, the collateral pledge was for 100% of Zummit.” (Doc. 29 at 12.) In other words, if IyAC breached the JVA, Zummit could execute on the collateral and own 100% of itself. (Doc. 29 at 12.) In November 2019, approximately two years after the Credit Agreement, Zummit issued IyAC a default letter for “fail[ure] to provide evidence” of acquiring the SML Equipment under the JVA. (Doc. 29 at 13.) That letter demanded the $5 million penalty and notified IyAC that Zummit would “‘keep possession and ownership of the shares title certificate pledged since the joint venture contract was signed . . .’ (i.e., the 1,000,000 shares of Zummit pledged to Zummit by IyAC).” (Doc. 29 at 13.) C. Private Purchase Agreement After the Credit Agreement but before Zummit sent the default letter, IyAC entered into a Private Purchase Agreement (the “PPA”) with Empaques Poliplasticos S.A. de C.V. (“Empaques”). (Doc. 29 at 13.) Under the PPA, IyAC would sell and Empaques would buy “30 million pounds of plastic wrap per year at a price of $1 per pound for five years, beginning in 2021.” (Doc. 29 at 13.) In the event of a breach—a term the PPA did not define—the breaching party would pay a penalty of $30 million. (Doc. 29 at 13–14.) UniCredit was not aware of the PPA until IyAC filed its arbitration claim. (Doc. 29 at 13.) D. Facility A Default and Arbitration After UniCredit disbursed the Facility A loan to IyAC, the SML Equipment was delivered to Zummit. (Doc. 29 at 14.) IyAC failed to timely make the first installment payment due under the Credit Agreement. (Doc. 29 at 14.) Nonetheless, IyAC requested Facility B funding and provided 2017 and 2018 financial statements to UniCredit as required under the Credit Agreement. (Doc. 29 at 14.) These statements “omitted any reference to IyAC’s debt to [UniCredit] of approximately €3,351,600” and “IyAC and its auditor could not provide a credible explanation for this omission.” (Doc. 29 at 14.) Because of this and IyAC’s attempts to “change what SML Equipment it could purchase under Facility B,” UniCredit advised IyAC it would not make the Facility B loan available. (Doc. 29 at 14–15.) Because UniCredit refused to make the Facility B loan, IyAC claimed it could not fulfill its obligations to Empaques under the PPA. (Doc. 29 at 14.) Empaques then issued a default letter stating IyAC had breached the PPA and demanding payment of the $30 million penalty. (Doc. 29 at 14.) As a result, IyAC filed a statement of claim with the Vienna Arbitral Center claiming UniCredit breached the Credit Agreement and demanding €41,858,900.00 in damages. (Doc. 29 at 16.) UniCredit asserted a counterclaim for €3,037,823.24 plus interest, representing the amounts IyAC had failed to pay under the Credit Agreement.

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UniCredit Bank Austria AG v. Inmobiliaria y Arrendadora Cuadro S.A. de C.V., (D. Ariz. 2024).

UniCredit Bank Austria AG v. Inmobiliaria y Arrendadora Cuadro S.A. de C.V. (UniCredit Bank Austria AG v. Inmobiliaria y Arrendadora Cuadro S.A. de C.V.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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