UAE-based hospital operator NMC Health has withdrawn its high-profile London lawsuit against auditor EY, abandoning a claim worth nearly £2 billion before the court

could deliver a verdict.

According to a court order dated January 29, NMC’s administrators formally pulled the case, which sought £1.94 billion in damages plus interest from EY over allegedly negligent audits carried out between 2012 and 2018. The order states that there will be no ruling on damages or legal costs and offers no explanation for the withdrawal.

The lawsuit was brought by administrators Alvarez & Marsal after NMC’s dramatic collapse in 2020, when the company revealed more than $4 billion in previously undisclosed debt. At the time, NMC had been a FTSE 100 constituent and one of the Middle East’s largest private healthcare providers.

NMC alleged that EY, one of the world’s Big Four accounting firms, failed to identify extensive financial irregularities during years in which it issued unqualified audit opinions stating that the company’s accounts gave a true and fair view. Much of the claimed loss related to undisclosed guarantees that later came to light.

The trial began at London’s High Court in May last year and concluded in October. However, before a judgment could be handed down, NMC opted to withdraw its claim.

During the proceedings, EY rejected allegations of negligence, arguing that the fraud was orchestrated by NMC’s own senior executives and main shareholders, who deliberately concealed wrongdoing and manipulated financial records to evade detection.

Lawyers for both NMC’s administrators and EY did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

NMC Health listed in London in 2012 and rose rapidly, joining the FTSE 100 in 2017. Its downfall began in December 2019 after short seller Muddy Waters raised concerns about the company’s financial reporting, triggering a sharp sell-off that wiped nearly a third off its share price in a single day.