Jones v Treasury Wine Estates Limited (No 2)

Jones v Treasury Wine Estates Limited (No 2) involves a class action proceeding brought by Mr Jones against Treasury Wine Estates Limited (TWE) on behalf of group members who allegedly suffered loss or damage due to misleading and deceptive conduct and continuous disclosure breaches by TWE. The case concerns the method of distribution of the group notice, the scope of information required from group members, and the timing and form of class closure and related orders. The court was required to decide whether personal service of the group notice should be effected upon group members, whether group members should provide trading information for transactions post-period pleaded, and whether class closure and related preclusion orders should be made.

The court found that the existence of a related proceeding should not delay the finalisation of the group notice and its publication to group members. It approved the distribution of the group notice via personal service using TWE's share register, publication on the websites of Maurice Blackburn and the Federal Court, and inspection at District Registries of the Court. The court also decided that group members should provide transactional information for purchases and sales of TWE securities during the relevant period. The court made class closure and claim preclusion orders requiring group members to complete an online registration form by the class deadline. Members who engaged the plaintiff's solicitors or retained IMF Bentham Limited for litigation funding would be deemed to have registered. The court also granted leave to the plaintiff's and defendant's solicitors to inspect opt-out notices filed by group members. The final orders included setting the class deadline for opt-out, the method and cost of notice distribution, and the requirements for group member registration and settlement distribution.