The Logothetis family is waging a legal battle with German banking giant Nord/LB in a dispute over ­discounted shipping loans.

The New York-based group has alleged that its financier reneged on an agreement to provide a $22m discount on $84m-worth of loans relating to seven containerships.

The dispute marks a low ebb in a 16-year relationship during which time the partners have conducted nearly $2bn of business.

Libra Group has claimed that the two parties last year agreed on a discounted $62.5m settlement of loans relating to seven vessels of between 2,192 teu and 4,992 teu that are operated by container shipping division Lomar Shipping.

But Libra Group alleged in court that the bank abruptly changed tack and instead sought to “re-trade” the deal when the market improved between July and September 2019.

Nord/LB allegedly reinstated its demand for the full $84m in September 2019 after a substantial part of the payment had already been remitted. The bank declined to comment for this story and has not yet responded in court to the lawsuit.

However, a Libra Group spokesman confirmed that a complaint was filed in US courts on 14 October as a result of the “bank’s conduct in relation to loans pertaining to our shipping business”.

“We regard the bank’s behaviour as an abject violation of widely accepted banking norms and a gross betrayal of trust earned over many years of fruitful collaboration — and we shall vigorously pursue this case,” he said.

“We did not want to bring this action, but our hand was forced by the intransigence of the bank.”

The dispute began at a bad time for Libra Group’s shipping unit, whose chief executive, Achim ­Boehme, was diagnosed with ­cancer in September 2019.

‘Menacing and icy’

Nord/LB's Hannover headquarters. Photo: Nord/LB

Boehme, who died in July this year, had been working with Libra Group chairman and chief executive George Logothetis to resolve the dispute.

But failure to reconcile their ­differences saw Libra Group’s shipowning unit, Libra Transportation, and its holding company, Arabella Group, file the complaint against Nord/LB last week in the New York state Supreme Court.

Documents obtained by TradeWinds show that Nord/LB executives allegedly attempted to apply pressure on Libra Group to settle on their terms by threat­ening to go after Logothetis ­personally.

In one meeting on 20 July 2019, the bank’s lead negotiator, Andreas Appel, is alleged to have “menacingly and icily” asked Logothetis: “Have you seen Game of Thrones, George?”

“No, Andreas, I have not. Why?”

“Well, because winter is coming for you, George!” Appel is said to have replied, allegedly using the phrase “winter is coming” as a reference to impending doom in the HBO television drama.

Libra Group’s lawyers claimed in legal papers that Logothetis came under pressure to personally guarantee a $62.5m settlement.

Failure to have done so could have meant Nord/LB foreclosing on the loan agreement and arresting the ships. That would have caused cross-defaults and covenant breaches, cutting off finance and threatening operations and ­reputation.

The bank settled for a guarantee from Arabella Group. But Libra Group argued in legal papers that “having repudiated a carefully negotiated and agreed settlement, Nord/LB was engaged in blackmail and illegal behaviour”.

The roots of the dispute stem from an agreement to finance eight containerships between 2013 and 2015. The loans were then estimated to be worth more than $100m, but by the autumn of 2018, they were ­estimated to be worth no more than $50m to $60m.

One of the vessels, the 2,194-teu Kea Trader (built 2017), ran aground in 2017 and was declared a constructive loss.

Nord/LB was enduring heavy losses in its shipping portfolio, which led to a German government bailout in 2018.

In April 2019, the bank declared it would exit shipping. Three months later, it sent the Libra Group notice of default on the loan agreement, demanding payment of the $84m balance within three weeks.

Weeks of “extremely intense and marathon negotiations” led in August 2019 to an agreement to refinance the debt at a 25% ­discount, Libra Group’s lawyers claimed in legal papers.

Libra Group raised $16m on the refinancing of the 5,042-teu Sydney Trader and Shanghai Trader (both built 2005) with Marathon Asset Management.

But it claimed that Nord/LB repudiated the agreement without warning on 26 September and demanded “the full, undiscounted balance” of about $84m.