Asahi Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd v Pacific Equity Partners Pty Limited (No 3)

Asahi Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd brought a proceeding against Pacific Equity Partners Pty Limited in the Federal Court of Australia, seeking relief related to a proposed sale of shares in a company. Asahi sought an interlocutory injunction to prevent Pacific from proceeding with the sale, which was opposed by Pacific and other respondents. The primary dispute involved the enforceability of certain agreements and the propriety of the sale process.

The court had to determine whether the costs of the stay application, which was brought by Asahi, should be borne by Asahi or by the respondents. Asahi argued that the respondents should bear the costs, while the respondents contended that the costs should be borne by Asahi, who had initiated the stay application. The court considered whether the respondents had acted unreasonably in opposing the stay application, which would have been a factor in determining whether the costs should be shifted to the respondents.

The court found that the respondents had not acted unreasonably in opposing the stay application. Given that Asahi had initiated the stay application to consider the possibility of an appeal, the court reasoned that there was no basis for shifting the costs of the stay application to the respondents. Consequently, the court ordered that Asahi was to bear the costs of the interlocutory application and the stay application. The court held that Asahi's decision to seek the stay was reasonable, but there was no ground to shift the financial burden of that decision to the respondents.