Rothschild Loses Daily Mail Libel Suit Appeal in London

Nathaniel Rothschild lost a ruling in his effort to sue the U.K.’s Daily Mail newspaper over an article describing a 2005 meeting he had with politician Peter Mandelson and billionaire Oleg Deripaska.

Rothschild, the 41-year-old co-founder of resources company Bumi Plc (BUMI) and scion of a centuries-old banking dynasty, was ordered to pay 50,000 pounds ($75,600) in costs by the three- judge panel in the U.K. Court of Appeal today, which upheld a prior ruling dismissing his libel suit.

The Daily Mail, published by Associated Newspapers Ltd., said Rothschild had arranged for Mandelson, a member of the U.K. House of Lords, to attend a dinner in Russia to close a deal between Alcoa Inc. (AA) and Deripaska’s United Co. Rusal Plc. That deal led to the loss of 300 British jobs it reported.

Rothschild lost his bid to replace the chairman and chief executive officer of Bumi last month. He had been locked in a fight over the control of the company with Indonesia’s Bakrie family, with whom he co-founded the coal and metal mines operator in a 2010 deal.

“I had difficulty in accepting that an article which had been so inaccurate, in such a material way, could be justified in the circumstances of this case,” Judge Richard McCombe said in the written judgment handed down today. However, he said he was satisfied the lower court reached a “correct conclusion.”

Ed Fitzgerald, a spokesman for law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP, which represents Associated Newspapers, declined to comment on the ruling.

Lawyers for Rothschild didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net