Interesting Judgment: Alan Louis & Others v Neil Miller Fenwick & Others

04 May 2023

Members,

Please find attached the following judgement handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday the 28th of April 2023.

The SCA deals with the interpretation of section 153(4) of the Companies Act, 71 of 2008, and whether this section is to be applied once a binding offer in terms of section 153(1)(b)(ii) of the Companies Act is rejected. In particular, the SCA considered whether business rescue proceedings terminate when a binding offer to purchase the voting interests of creditors who oppose the adoption of a business rescue plan is rejected, or whether the affected person who made the offer is entitled to further remedies of section 153(4).

Ultimately, the court found that once a business rescue plan has been put to a vote and rejected, and affected persons have unsuccessfully exhausted their remedies as provided for in section 153(1)(b), the business rescue must come to an end.

Kindly sent to us by PJ Veldhuizen of Gillian Veldhuizen and Aanisah Ramroop of Bowmans Inc.

Take care
René Bekker
Chief Operating Officer

  Judgment: Alan Louis & Others v Neil Miller Fenwick & Others. SCA case no. 598/2022