Tikehau and Montefiore Searched in Judicial Probe into Cruiseline Sale
Key Facts
Tikehau Capital and Montefiore Investment were searched as part of a judicial investigation in Paris related to a dispute over the sale of Cruiseline, Agence France-Presse reported. The investigation began in March 2026 after Abénex filed a criminal complaint against an unknown party. It concerns suspicions of forgery, use of a forged document, attempted fraud and fraud. The complaint centers on the sale of Cruiseline, which sells cruise tickets, and a certificate on the company’s financial condition. The agency described the searches as among the first major steps in the investigation, with no party having been notified of formal charges as of the date of the news report.
Abénex says Montefiore oversaw the delivery of a forged certificate attesting to Cruiseline’s financial health in April 2020, in the context of efforts to force a sale of the company. The deal was not completed, and the certificate remained at the heart of the dispute reopened by the judicial investigation. The agency presents this account as an accusation by Abénex, not as a proven judicial finding. The complaint was also filed against an unknown party, and the report does not say that formal charges were brought against Montefiore or Tikehau. This distinction clearly separates the subject of the investigation from any established criminal liability.
The dispute also extends to Tikehau’s role, which the agency describes as Montefiore’s main creditor. According to a source close to the case cited by AFP, Abénex accuses Tikehau of identifying financial difficulties at Cruiseline and then reversing its position. This means the complaint is not limited to the certificate attributed to Montefiore, but also addresses what Abénex says was the main creditor’s stance toward the company’s condition. The agency did not report a ruling establishing these allegations, nor did it present them as findings reached by the investigation. They therefore remain part of Abénex’s account in the judicial case.
The Paris Commercial Court ruled on 31 July 2020 that the sale agreement had lapsed, upholding Abénex’s position, according to information published by the company on its website. The court found that the conditions precedent to completing the agreement had not been met. The ruling linked Cruiseline’s condition to the severe impact of the Covid crisis and the suspension of cruise travel, two factors cited in the assessment of the circumstances surrounding the deal. The decision provides prior judicial context for the dispute, but concerns the sale agreement and its circumstances, not the outcome of the criminal investigation that began later. Montefiore told AFP that an appeals court had previously ruled in its favor, without the report providing further details about that judgment.
Montefiore said the searches were related to the Cruiseline sale dispute, while Tikehau said it was fully cooperating with the ongoing investigations. Tikehau added that its involvement in the case as a lender was consistent with industry rules. These statements come as AFP described the searches as among the first major steps in the investigation, with no formal charges reported at that time. The report included no data on a confirmed financial impact or related share-price movement. The next step, based on the status of the case as reported by the agency, is for the judicial investigation to continue without any formal charges announced as of the date of the news report.