CED Wise AB Services Pty Ltd v Hilltops Pastoral Group Pty Ltd

In the case of CED Wise AB Services Pty Ltd v Hilltops Pastoral Group Pty Ltd, the applicant company sought to wind up the respondent company. The applicant served a statutory demand on the respondent, which it was aware would likely not reach the respondent due to the address provided being incorrect. The respondent argued that the statutory demand was invalid because it had not been served in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The court was tasked with determining when the statutory demand was taken to have been served, whether the statutory demand was stale at the time the application for winding up was filed, whether the applicant could amend its application for winding up, and whether an adjournment should be granted.

The court held that the statutory demand was not served in accordance with the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) as the address provided was incorrect and notice of the demand was unlikely to come to the respondent company’s attention. The court found that the statutory demand should be taken to have been served on the date it was lodged with the court, which was more than six months prior to the application for winding up being filed. As a result, the statutory demand was stale at the time the application for winding up was filed. The court also held that the applicant could not amend its application for winding up as it would be futile, and an adjournment should not be granted as the applicant had not demonstrated any exceptional circumstances warranting an adjournment.

The court dismissed the applicant’s application to amend the originating application and its application for a winding up order. The applicant was ordered to pay the respondent’s costs of and incidental to the application, to be assessed on the standard basis.