Simon Halabi’s family trust reached an out of court settlement this morning over a £1.4m claim brought against it for unpaid fees relating to a £192m shopping centre sale.

The terms of the settlement are confidential, and it was agreed just before Halabi, who was not present in court, was due to give evidence.

Accountancy firm KPMG lodged the claim, saying that Equity Trust, acting for Halabi’s Ironzar Trust, had not paid fees relating to financial advice it had provided after being instructed on the sale of three shopping centres.

KPMG also claimed that it lost out on commission when Equity used another firm, DTZ, to sell two of the centres, the Queensmere and Observatory centres in Slough, to British Land for £192m.

Halabi had launched a counter-claim for breach of contract.