A deal to settle the lengthy Thyssen billion-dollar court battle appears to be be on the horizon, according to insiders close to the case.

The feud between father and son which had been raging in the Supreme Court over a $2.7 billion fortune had been halted after the judge dramatically quit four months ago.

According to three separate sources, an out-of-court settlement is currently on the table and being looked at by all sides, but at press time no details were available on what kind of deal was being made.

Last week The Royal Gazette reported the Thyssen case would not be back in a Bermuda court until September, according to Deputy Governor Tim Gurney.

The Supreme Court case was left hanging in March when the presiding judge, Dennis Mitchell, quit over a pay row - a year and a half into the case, leaving the Attorney General and Governor's office to find a replacement judge for the complex legal wrangle.

An announcement about a new judge was expected to be made in June, but there had been silence over the affair from all camps.

"There is a deal out there, but we have all been sworn to secrecy," said one source, adding: "How did you find out about it?"

"Something big is happening," said another. "There is a deal and we are all looking at it. It looks like we will not be back in Bermuda for long."

Another said when asked about an settlement of the case: "I could not possibly comment - but you are not far wrong when you say there is a deal being discussed by all of us."

Mr. Gurney said last week : "There will be no court action before September."

Rumours have been circulating in both England and on the Island that there is a deal in the offing to settle the case out of court .

Neither the Governor's office nor any of the parties involved would not officially comment on the rumours.

Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, is suing his eldest son Georg for the $2.7 billion family fortune. The 80-year-old baron claims his son owes him $232 million with arrears and loss of value.

The trial itself has been hugely expensive and has been raging since October 1999.

A team of 32 lawyers from both England and Bermuda had been working on the case around the clock for a year on a half in the Supreme Court in a case which has cost an estimated $100 million, or $600,000 a week.

There was speculation when Mr. Justice Mitchell quit that the trial would have to re-start or move to London.

But at the beginning of June it was believed a top London judge, Sir Gavin Lightman, was about to take over the trial and hear the remainder of the case in Bermuda.

At the time it was believed he was poised to sign contracts in June - but this has not occurred.

Mr. Justice Lightman is believed to be partly the driving force behind the deal to settle what would without a doubt be a lengthy battle once it resumes - it took the Baron's lawyers over a year to deliver their opening remarks.

Mr. Justice Mitchell quit after Governor Thorold Masefield declined to renew his three-year contract after demands for more money were made by the judge.

The parties involved have talked of suing the Government, the Governor and Justice Mitchell among others for the failure of the case.

The case

The Baron, now 80, signed over the family business (and fortune) to a continuity trust created in 1983 which immediately made his son Georg, now 49, the principal beneficiary.

The father is claiming in court the trust and his son owe him $232 million in arrears with inflation and loss of value and wants to wrest control of the empire back.

The trial originally started in October 1999 after two years of legal wrangles over what evidence could and could not be submitted.

The trial had been stopped for legal clarifications for over six months before Christmas, and resumed in January.

The opening statements for the Baron's lawyer's took 15 months to complete.

There are 121,959 documents entered so far into evidence and there is an average of 600 pages of transcripts from the case each week.