Verdict: Berlin art dealer Torsten Bröhan must disclose the proceeds from the sale of his large collection to Hangzhou, China

Design objects to the city of Hangzhou, China. The deal is said to have closed in late 2010 or the first half of 2011. Bröhan can file an appeal against the verdict.

The court has thus agreed with the legal position of business consultant Stephan Balzer, who filed suit against Bröhan for non-payment of compensation he says is owed to him from a brokerage agreement. Bröhan and Balzer agreed in a letter to a commission payment of 10% of the purchase price. In the suit, Bröhan claimed that he made the sale using his own contacts and Balzer's contribution was minimal. He also claimed that the statute of limitations had expired.

The Chinese press has repeatedly stated a purchase price in the tens of millions. Bröhan vehemently denies this, and has obtained a court order prohibiting disclosure of this information by the reporter in this press release. It remains a mystery as to why Bröhan is so aggressively trying to prevent disclosure of what he claims is an incorrect figure, although it can easily be found in many sources.

For background information about the sale of Torsten Bröhan's design collection to China please see: www.torsten-broehans-million-dollar-secret.com

Information about the verdict from the Regional Court of Berlin is available in German from beck-online: hrsw.beck.de/aktuell/meldung/lg-berlin-auskunftsklage-gegen-bekannten-kunstsammler-teilweise-erfolgreich