FIFE engineering firm BiFab has settled a dispute with a German firm that filed a legal claim against it at the beginning of this year.
EEW, one of BiFab’s co-contractors on the £2.6 billion Beatrice Offshore Windfarm, lodged a case at the Court of Session claiming that BiFab owed it money in relation to work done on the project.
However, it is understood that the matter has now been resolved after BiFab pointed out that the terms of the contract between the two companies stipulated that any disputes should be dealt with out of court.
A source at BiFab said: “We came to a mutually acceptable agreement.
“There was a contract in place and there was a dispute resolution process in that which EEW didn’t adhere to.
“They said ‘we’ve not been paid’ and they got their lawyers in.
“We got a letter in and said ‘there’s a disputes process in the contract, why are you not following that?’.
“They said ‘that’s fair enough, can we agree on that?’ and we said ‘yes we can’.”
It comes after The Herald revealed that BiFab, which is under threat of closure because its work on Beatrice is due to run out in the coming weeks, is on the cusp of receiving an investment that could secure its future.
Canadian engineering firm Barnes Group is in advanced talks with the firm and the Scottish Government about securing a deal.
The company will not take over BiFab in its entirety as the Scottish Government will retain a shareholding it received when it bailed the firm out with a £15 million loan at the end of last year.
BiFab began drawing down on the loan earlier this year and is currently using the money for cashflow purposes.
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