Kenneth John Rennie in his capacity as joint liquidator of the third Plaintiff and 2 Ors v Printbase Pty Limited

The matter before the court involved Kenneth John Rennie, in his capacity as joint liquidator of the third plaintiff, along with two others, suing Printbase Pty Limited. The dispute centred on claims for unfair preferences made under the Corporations Act, specifically sections 588FA and 588FG(2), which pertain to insolvent transactions and the defences available to creditors. The court was tasked with determining whether Printbase Pty Limited had engaged in unfair preferences by making payments to the liquidators, and whether there were valid defences to these claims.

The legal issues before the court included whether Printbase had reasonable grounds to suspect the company was insolvent at the time of the transactions, and whether the transactions were part of a continuing business relationship or simply a running account. Additionally, the court had to consider whether the transactions were unfair preferences and whether Printbase could rely on any defences provided by the Corporations Act.

The court examined the evidence and the statutory provisions to determine that Printbase Pty Limited did indeed have reasonable grounds to suspect the company was insolvent at the time of the transactions. However, the court found that the transactions were not part of a continuing business relationship but were rather a running account. As a result, the court held that the transactions were not unfair preferences under the Corporations Act, and the liquidators' claims were dismissed. The court's reasoning was based on the specific criteria set out in the Corporations Act and the evidence presented regarding the nature of the transactions.