In the insolvency of Woolworths plc, a subsidiary sought to have valued its shareholding in a company in which the defendants were co-shareholders. It was argued that an earlier agreement between them had not be fully superceded by a subsequent one.
Held: The new licence arrangement impliedly involved a surrender of the old. The contractual provisions in the joint venture agreement taken together with termination provisions in a licence of IP rights were void. Their effect was to deprive creditors on a subsequent insolvency of access to the assets and was therefore against public policy in the light of the insolvency laws.
Peter Smith J
[2009] EWHC 1954 (Ch), [2009] BPIR 1315
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Graves v Graves and others CA 3-Jul-2007
The parties had divorced and settled financial provision, but the former wife and her children came to need a house and one of the claimant’s properties became vacant, and she was allowed to occupy it as a tenant, with the majority of the rent being . .
Cited – Bell v Lever Brothers Ltd HL 15-Dec-1931
Bell was director and chairman of Niger, a subsidiary of Lever Brothers Ltd who dismissed him, offering and paying andpound;30,000 compensation. Lever then discovered that Mr Bell had made secret profits at the expense of Niger for which he could . .
Cited – Perpetual Trustee Co Ltd v BNY Corporate Trustee Services Ltd and Another ChD 28-Jul-2009
The parties had entered into complicated financial arrangements effectively providing credit insurance. On the insolvency of Lehman brothers, a claim was made.
Held: The contractual provisions were effective as a matter of English law and, in . .
Cited – Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris (International) Ltd CA 14-Oct-2002
The parties contracted for the hire of a ship. They were each under a mistaken impression as to its position, and a penalty became payable. The hirer claimed that the equitable doctrine of mutual mistake should forgive him liability.
Held: . .
Cited – Associated Japanese Bank (International) Ltd v Credit du Nord SA 1988
A contract of guarantee was made, but based upon a term of fundamental importance which was mistaken as to the existence of certain machines.
Held: The court must first look to the nature of the purported agreement. Steyn J said: ‘Logically, . .
Cited – United Dominions Corporation (Jamaica) Ltd v Shoucair PC 1969
(Jamaica) A moneylending law required, for the enforceability of a loan bearing interest at more than ten per cent, a written memorandum containing all the terms of the loan with the borrower’s signature. A bank lent money at nine per cent secured . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Insolvency, Company
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.374034
