A German company that reneged on a business agreement with engineered timber specialist Palgrave Brown has lost its second court battle.
A year after the High Court in Leeds ordered that worldwide logistics giant Stinnes AG should repay £50,000 plus interest and costs to Palgrave Brown, the Court of Appeal has upheld the decision.
The High Court proceedings started in 1999 after Stinnes had encouraged Palgrave Brown in its interest in purchasing one of its companies, the UK timber and roof truss manufacturer RK Timber Ltd.
Palgrave Brown produced evidence of telephone calls and letters in which Stinnes offered to refund Palgrave Brown’s costs up to the value of £50,000 if the bid was not successful.
However, the company refused to pay after Stinnes’ board rejected Palgrave Brown’s offer of £12m for RK Timber in favour of another bidder.
Palgrave Brown took Stinnes to court and won – but Stinnes appealed against the decision of the trial judge which stated that it was bound by its promise to repay £50,000 as part of an acquisition deal.
Last Tuesday Stinnes heard that it had lost its appeal.
Palgrave Brown’s managing director Richard Fawcett said: ‘Our business ethics are based on high quality in whatever we do, and that includes transactions with all our contacts as well as customers and suppliers and we expect the same courtesy in return.’
