In the matter of Rothwell One Pty Ltd

In the Federal Court of Australia, Rothwell One Pty Ltd sought to wind up Rothwell Two Pty Ltd. The application was based on a statutory demand issued by Rothwell One, claiming that Rothwell Two owed $100,000. Rothwell Two applied to set aside the statutory demand, arguing that there was a genuine dispute about the existence or amount of the debt. The court was required to determine whether Rothwell Two's contention about the dispute was valid.

The court considered the criteria for setting aside a statutory demand under section 459E of the Corporations Act 2001. The relevant considerations included whether Rothwell Two had a genuine dispute about the existence or amount of the debt and whether the dispute was not vexatious or an abuse of process. The court examined the evidence provided by Rothwell Two and assessed whether there was a real prospect of success in a trial to establish the genuineness of the dispute. The court also considered whether the dispute was so weak that it could not succeed at trial.

After reviewing the evidence and submissions, the court found that Rothwell Two had raised a genuine dispute about the existence or amount of the debt. The court accepted that there were genuine issues to be tried, particularly regarding the amount claimed and the nature of the debt. The court concluded that setting aside the statutory demand was appropriate to avoid a potential injustice. Consequently, the court ordered that the statutory demand be set aside, and the application to wind up Rothwell Two Pty Ltd was dismissed.