Keystone Law is advising a group of institutional shareholders on a litigation claim expected to be in excess of £400m, against listed oil giant Petrofac.

The shareholders, who are being funded by Innsworth Litigation Funding, are claiming that they suffered substantial losses arising from Petrofac's alleged involvement in bribery, corruption and money laundering after the company failed to disclose key information about its business performance and prospects and allegedly issued misleading or false statements.

The team, led by senior Keystone litigators George Lambrou, Matthew Reach and Robert Lawrie, is advising the shareholders, including major UK and US pensions funds, on the claim.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) confirmed in May 2017 that it was investigating the FTSE 250 company due to "suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering" as part of an investigation into similar allegations against Monaco-based Unaoil.

Petrofac's share price fell by about 50% during May, in the wake of a series of SFO announcements relating to investigations into specific Petrofac individuals.

Last week (7 February), David Lufkin, the former global head of sales at Petrofac, pleaded guilty to offering corrupt payments in an attempt to secure contracts in Saudi Arabia worth $3.5bn (£2.7bn) and contracts in Iraq worth $730m (£566m).

In a statement after the case, the company said: "Petrofac confirms that no charges have been brought against any group company or any other officers or employees. Although not charged, a number of Petrofac individuals and entities are alleged to have acted together with the individual concerned. No current board member of Petrofac Limited is alleged to have been involved."

In 2018, Simmons & Simmons' crime, fraud and investigations head Stephen Gentle and partner Nick Benwell were brought in to defend Petrofac during the SFO probe, replacing Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Freshfields had been working alongside KPMG since April 2016, when the SFO made its first allegations against the energy giant. Ashurst litigation partner and City of London Law Society chair Edward Sparrow was also drafted in to advise the oil giant.