The High Court has granted ASIC special leave to appeal a judgment that let a former director of Gold Coast finance company MFS Group partially off the hook for $147.5 million in misappropriated funds, after ASIC argued the High Court should intervene to clarify the scope of the word “officer” under the Corporations Act.
Potential new entrants to a major freight terminal in Queensland will be “better protected” by a last-minute promise by the terminal’s hopeful owner, Pacific National, than if the ACCC had succeeded in blocking the rail operator’s proposed $205 million acquisition, according to the judge who dismissed the competition watchdog’s case.
A court has dismissed a long-running case against defunct Babcock & Brown executives by a private investment fund over a botched $1.4B acquisition of the biggest laundry equipment provider in the US, saying the executives did not breach their duties by failing to disclose that the bank underwriting the deal allegedly wanted out.
A judge has dismissed HWL Ebsworth’s claims of a “fishing expedition” and granted discovery of a slew of internal documents relevant to allegations a partner at the law firm encouraged a company’s directors to unlawfully divert insurance proceeds to pay almost $150,000 in legal bills.
Vodafone and TPG will file a Federal Court challenge to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s opposition to their proposed $15 billion merger, teeing up the biggest merger challenge ever heard by the court.
Kraft Foods has come up short in its high-stakes legal battle against Bega over the right to use its distinctive peanut butter trade dress in Australia, allowing Bega to maintain its hold on the $60 million per year stake in the peanut butter market which it acquired by purchasing Kraft unit Mondelez’s Australian and New Zealand business in 2017.
Judgment is expected Wednesday in a high-stakes dispute between consumer giants Kraft and Bega over who owns the rights to the signature Kraft peanut butter trade dress in Australia.
Two units of private equity company Antin Infrastructure Partners have taken their legal battle with Spain to Australian court, filing a lawsuit to enforce a $161 million arbitration award related to investments the companies made in two solar plants in southern Spain.
A director of an energy company who was kicked off the board for missing too many meetings has filed an appeal of a ruling dismissing his case over delays in complying with court requests after his lawyer from Maddocks withdrew from the case due to late payments.
Australia’s largest intellectual property services firm IPH will maintain its dominance after winning a takeover battle for Xenith IP, a deal that will create a formidable IP services giant with over 1,000 employees across Asia Pacific.