Restructuring & Insolvency analysis:
An action was brought against the former administrators of Force India Formula One Team Ltd (FI), Mr Rowley and Mr Baker (the administrators), following the sale of FI’s business and assets to a third party. The claimant, PJSC Uralkali (Uralkali), had alleged that the administrators had made negligent misrepresentations in respect of the bidding process, conducted the bidding process negligently, and breached equitable duties of confidence owed to Uralkali.
The administrators had taken the step of waiving privilege in the advice that they obtained relating to the transaction (para [70]). The court, applying the principles of Hedley Byrne v Heller, found that the administrators had not assumed responsibility to Uralkali for any representations that they made during the sale process, which representations were in any event not, on the facts, false. The administrators had not assumed a duty of care and were not in fact negligent.
This article was first published by Lexis®PSL on 4th January 2021
Download a PDF of the full article here.
Authored by Luke Tucker Harrison, co-founding Partner.
