PGH Anticipates 2026 Resolution in SGT Capital Disputes, Tied to Separate Arbitration Outcome

The Payments Group Holding anticipates that its ongoing disputes with SGT Capital Group may reach resolution in 2026, with outcomes heavily influenced by separate arbitration proceedings currently underway between SGT Group and Summit Partners. PGH has been involved in various disputes with SGT Capital Group since 2024, primarily concerning receivables of 6.0 million EUR, of which 4.0 million EUR are secured by distribution claims from SGT Capital Fund II's investment in Utimaco Management Services GmbH.

According to PGH, SGT Capital LLC may have fraudulently misrepresented capital commitments and fundraising prospects during their 2020 cooperation initiation, which PGH believes contributed to the failure of the Elatec deal in 2023. This failure led to PGH discontinuing its private equity business and separating from SGT Capital LLC as majority shareholder. PGH may have tort-based claims for damages in the multi-million EUR range against SGTLLC that require further examination.

The reasons for the Elatec deal's failure are currently being examined in multi-day arbitration hearings in Munich between SGT Group and Summit Partners. According to a petition filed by Summit Partners on 21 December 2023 with the Grand Court of Cayman, claims for damages in the double-digit million-EUR range may be at issue. A victory for SGT Capital in these proceedings could create financial means and willingness to settle liabilities owed to PGH, while a defeat could potentially bring the entire SGT Group into economic turmoil or even result in its liquidation.

PGH has secured collateral through SGTLLC's assignment of the Utimaco investment, valued between 4.0 and 9.1 million EUR, for a claim currently amounting to 4.0 million EUR including interest. Utimaco recently divested a business unit for approximately 85 million EUR, which PGH believes improves SGT Group's creditworthiness and increases the probability of an Utimaco investment exit in 2026. Such an exit could generate multi-million EUR inflows for SGT Group, potentially enabling settlement of PGH's 6.0 million EUR receivables plus additional 1.7 million EUR in damages claims.

Part of PGH's receivables, amounting to 1.1 million EUR, is directed against SGT Capital Fund II, which has been burdened with up to 3.35 million EUR in arbitration costs. Its Luxembourg-based sub-fund vehicle has been renamed SGT Co-Invest SPV SCSp and entered liquidation on 11 September 2025. PGH concludes that SGT Group has abandoned its ambitions to launch a multi-billion EUR "blind pool PE fund." PGH is in dialogue with the liquidator regarding timely payment of its overdue claim, which would contribute to PGH's financing.

PGH remains uncertain about how SGT Group is funding its disputes, noting that litigation cost allocations to SGT Capital Fund II may include dispute costs relating to PGH, and that law firm Willkie Farr Gallagher LLP - which advised SGT Group in the Elatec deal - may possibly be granting loans to SGT Group. Willkie Farr Gallagher LLP's involvement in the failed Elatec deal suggests the outcome may not have been entirely unforeseeable. The resolution timeline coincides with PGH's expected closing of its PayTech acquisition transaction in Q1 2026, marking a potential turning point for both companies' financial trajectories.