Broadcasting Investment Group Ltd & Ors –v- Smith & ors

25th May 2021

The First Claimant Broadcasting Investment Group Limited (C1) appeals the order of Andrew Simmonds QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) dated 21 September 2020 whereby he struck out the First Claimant’s claim against the First Defendant save for its claim regarding the forfeiture of its shares in the Fifth Defendant. C1 also seeks an order setting aside paragraph 5 of the order which required the Claimants to pay 50% of the First Defendant’s costs of the application to which this appeal relates.

The principal claims against the Respondent (D1 Mr Smith and D2 Mr Finch) are contractual claims under an alleged Agreement which the Claimants state was made orally on 30 October 2012 between D1 and D2 on the one hand and C1 and C3 on the other. The Claimants state that D1 and D2, amongst other things, undertook to comply with obligations which it has summarised as the `incorporation obligation’, the `allocation obligation’ and the `transfer obligation’ and argue that though the first two of these were complied with, the third was not.

Andrew Simmonds QC struck out C1’s claim under the Agreement on the ground that they were barred by the rule in Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v Newman Industries Ltd (No 2) [1982] Ch 204.

View hearing:

Part 1

Part 2