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England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division) Decisions >> Caldero Trading Ltd. v Beppler & Jacobson Ltd & Ors [2012] EWHC 1609 (Ch) (14 June 2012) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2012/1609.html Cite as: [2012] EWHC 1609 (Ch) |
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Rolls Building London EC4A1NL |
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B e f o r e :
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CALDERO TRADING LIMITED |
Petitioner |
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- and - |
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(1) BEPPLER & JACOBSON LIMITED (2) BEPPLER & JACOBSON MONTENEGRO D.O.O. (3) LEIBSON CORPORATION LIMITED (4) BELINDA CAPITAL LIMITED (5) IGOR LAZURENKO (6) MARCEL TELSER |
Respondents |
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(7) LAWSON TRADING LIMITED (8) SERGEY SCHEKLANOV |
Proposed Respondents |
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Mr Richard Morgan QC, Mr Andrew Westwood and Ms Narinder Jhittay (instructed by Rooks Rider) for the Third and Sixth Respondents
Mr Peter Griffiths (instructed by Edwin Coe) for the Fourth Respondent
Mr Neil Kitchener QC and Mr Alexander Polley (instructed by Mishcon de Reya) for Lawson Trading, the proposed Seventh Respondent
Mr Cyril Kinsky QC (instructed by Edwin Coe) for Mr Scheklanov, the proposed Eighth Respondent
Hearing dates: 6th, 7th and 11th June 2012
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Crown Copyright ©
Mr Justice Floyd :
"has made investments on behalf of the trade creditor, [Lawson], in hotel developments totalling £2,526,671 (2004 £2,498,576). This balance has been included within creditors amounts falling due within one year.
"BJUK kept the investments as an Agent for Principal based on the agency agreement dd 03 03 2003 with [Lawson]. The investments were transferred to the Principal."
"(1) Leibson offers to purchase your client's shares at a fair value being a value representing an equivalent proportion of the total issued share capital without any discount for the shareholding being a minority holding,(2) the value of your client's shares is to be determined by a competent expert to be agreed by our respective clients or in default nominated by the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants with the costs of the expert to be shared or as the expert should decide,
(3) the value should be determined by the expert as such rather than as an arbitrator and he need not give reasons,
(4) both of our clients will have the same access to information about BJUK which bears upon the value of the shares and the right to make submissions to the expert but the form of those submissions is to be left to the discretion of the expert, and
(5) the petition be dismissed and the Order [of HHJ Birss QC] be discharged."
"In relation to the valuation exercise to be conducted, we are instructed that, without prejudice to the actual position reflected in the accounts, and without prejudice to our client, Leibson's, position that the accounts accurately reflect the true position, in an attempt to cut through the issues Leibson offers as an alternative to (1) that Leibson agrees to purchase your client's shares at a fair value being a value representing an equivalent proportion of the total issued share capital without any discount for the shareholding being a minority holding but on the basis that the shares in BJM and the relevant hotels and land are owned beneficially within BJUK, either directly or through BJM, but with such valuation to take into account those sums paid to BJUK and their trading as loans that are repayable."
"I am instructed by Mr Scheklanov to say that he is content to proceed, for the purpose of the offer letter from [Leibson's solicitors] and with a view to resolving this matter, but for no other purpose, on the basis that the Agency Agreements … are ineffective and do not prejudice any relief the Petitioner might be granted or any agreed compromise of the Petition. Furthermore, Mr Scheklanov is content for Leibson to grant a charge in favour of the Petitioner over the shares it holds in BJUK as security for the payment of the price found by the expert agreed between the parties for the shares held by the Petitioner in BJUK. Mr Scheklanov is also content for [Lawson] to grant a charge as security for Leibson's obligation to pay Caldero the value of its shares over the beneficial interest it has in the assets which are held on trust for Lawson pursuant to the terms of the Agency Agreement …"
The application to join Lawson and Scheklanov
i) The offer does adequately deal with the issue of fact concerning the basis on which the company was funded. It is made explicit by the respondents that the valuation is to be on the basis that the petitioner's case that the company was funded by way of capital contribution is rejected.
ii) The offer, even as improved by the subsequent statement in Mr Neocleous's evidence, does not adequately guarantee payment. Leibson is a BVI company and Lawson and Belinda are both Nevis companies. All three are of wholly unknown financial standing. In a situation where the parties are distrustful of one another, the petitioner is acting reasonably by insisting on some better security, for example that the respondent submits to a winding up order if the money is not paid.
iii) The out of court valuation process proposed cannot adequately determine the true financial position of the companies. The remedy which will get to the bottom of the financial position of the company is a winding up order.
"The court may order a person to be added as a new party if-(a) it is desirable to add the new party so that the court can resolve all that matters in dispute in the proceedings; or(b) there is an issue involving the new party and an existing party which is connected to the matters in dispute in the proceedings, and it is desirable to add the new party so that the court can resolve that issue."
"A petition under s 459 is not analogous to litigation in which the issues raised affect only those against whom allegations are made by the plaintiff. A closer analogy is an administration action where all beneficiaries having an interest in the relief sought should be made parties all represented. The practice that has so far been followed in the Companies Court is to require that all members of the company whose interest would have been affected by the misconduct alleged or who would be affected by an order made by the court under the very wide powers conferred by s 461 are made respondents to a petition or served with it."
"From the existing authorities cited it can be seen that in an appropriate case relief can be sought against a non-member other than the company itself, or against a person not involved in the act complained of (at least if that person would be affected by the relief sought) and that a person against whom no relief is in terms sought cannot necessarily escape being a respondent, whilst, on the facts, it can be right to strike out a petition, even as against those whose acts are complained of, so long as no relief is sought against such a person.This summary suggests to me that in point of jurisdiction the wide language of ss 459 and 461 is not to be cut down. None the less, cases may arise where, notwithstanding that the claim cannot be clearly said to be outside that wide jurisdiction, the likelihood of the court's discretion being exercised so as to lead to relief against, or relief having any material effect upon, a given respondent can to be seen to be so remote that the case can fairly be described as "perfectly hopeless", to use Hoffmann J's phrase, and hence that it would be abusive to require that respondent to remain as such or to be added as such."
"The agreement between Mr Becirovic and Mr Lazurenko (acting on his own behalf and his principal) was that the respective contributions to be made for their interests in the joint venture, as represented by their respective shares in BJUK, of Mr Becirovic on the one hand and Mr Lazurenko's principal on the other, would be (a) in the case of Mr Becirovic, his local knowledge and management, and (b) in the case of Mr Lazurenko's principal the principal's investment of funds. In other words, those were their respective capital contributions to the joint venture, represented by their shares in BJUK, as opposed to contributions by way of loan, thus making Mr Becirovic's interest a clear 20% interest in the joint venture.
The application to strike out Mr Telser
The application in respect of documents
"The Applicant will not without the permission of the court use any information obtained as a result of this order for the purpose of any civil or criminal proceedings, either in England and Wales or in any other jurisdiction, other than this claim."
"A party to whom a document has been disclosed may use the document only for the purpose of the proceedings in which it is disclosed, except where-(a) the document has been read to or by the court, or referred to, at a hearing which has been held in public;(b) the court gives permission; or
(c) the party who disclosed the document and the person to whom the document belongs agree."
"whether the documents obtained on discovery are being used for the purpose for which the discovery was ordered, or whether they are being used for a collateral purpose. Normally the purpose will not be collateral if the document is to be used in the same action. But I can imagine cases where that would be not so, just as I can imagine the converse case where the purpose would not be collateral even though the documents are to be used in a separate action."
"I think the expression "collateral or ulterior purpose" from the judgement of Jenkins J. in Alterskye v Scott [1948] 1 All ER 469. I do not use it in a pejorative sense, but merely to indicate some purpose different from that which was the only reason why, under a procedure designed to achieve justice in civil actions, she was accorded at the advantage, which she would not otherwise have had, of having in her possession copies of other people's documents."