Former restaurateur Matthew Trim says one of Adelaide’s most prominent landlords owes him $1.5 million

Adelaide businessman Matthew Trim says he sold Regent Arcade and wants his $1.5 million commission. The former owners say they never had a contract with him.

George and Zis Ginos say they don’t owe Matthew Trim anything.

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Former restaurateur, now commercial property agent Matthew Trim is suing prominent landlords the Ginos Group for $1.5 million, claiming they failed to pay him for selling Regent Arcade for them.

But the Ginos Group’s company, Malabe Pty Ltd, says it doesn’t owe Mr Trim anything and it was dealing with Commercial Adelaide director Remo Russo. Mr Trim is listed as a director on the Commercial Adelaide website but ASIC records show he was a director for only four months, ceasing in July last year, but remains a shareholder.

Mr Trim says in a statement of claim that he was “engaged by the respondent” to sell Regent Arcade, but they failed to pay his 3 per cent commission.

The claim says that at a meeting at Shobosho restaurant in October 2019, he told the respondents he had an interested buyer, and would charge them 3 per cent of the sale price given their desire to sell it for about $50 million, which he thought was “well above the market value.’’.

Matthew Trim with then-wife Olivia Trim during his days as a restaurateur.

Mr Trim says George Ginos “agreed ... to engage the applicant as sales agent’’ with further terms and conditions to be determined later. Mr Trim says the Ginos Group demonstrated “by its conduct’’ that it had a contract with him, including by giving him details of tenants and concept plans for a hotel to be developed on the site.

Mr Trim says he gave the Ginos Group a “written agency agreement’’ in November last year, and Zis Ginos, the head of the group, “agreed to pay the agreed commission’’ and said he would “read through the written agreement before signing it’’. Regent Arcade was sold to Wingpower Holdings in March for $48.5m, but Mr Trim says he has not been paid his commission.

In its defence documents, the Ginos Group denies that George Ginos or Malabe “ever instructed the applicant’’ and says “that as a matter of business custom, contracts for agency services are in writing’’.

“The respondent ... admits only that George Ginos provided concept plans to Mr Russo and the applicant acting for and on behalf of Commercial Adelaide’’.

Malabe says “there was no agency agreement or agreed commission’’ and further says that Zis Ginos “expressly refused to pay a commission of 3 per cent’’ and “expressly stated that he would not sign’’ the agency agreement given to him. Malabe says Mr Trim is not entitled to any payment.

Mr Trim’s father ran the failed Trims retail business while one of his own businesses, T. H. Holdings, Pty Ltd, was placed in liquidation with debts of $900,000 in mid-2012.