Raynbell Pty Ltd v Guiseppe Manconi and Lanisa Pty Limited

Raynbell Pty Ltd (the plaintiff) brought proceedings against Guiseppe Manconi and Lanisa Pty Limited (the defendants) in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The dispute concerned the plaintiff's claim for damages for breach of contract and misleading and deceptive conduct arising from the sale of a business. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants had misrepresented the financial performance of the business and that it had suffered loss as a result.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the defendants had breached their contractual obligations to the plaintiff and whether they had engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive in contravention of the *Trade Practices Act 1974* (Cth) (now the *Competition and Consumer Act 2010* (Cth)). Specifically, the Court had to determine if the representations made by the defendants regarding the business's profitability were false and if the plaintiff had relied on these representations to its detriment.

Justice Forno found that the defendants had made representations concerning the business's financial performance that were not supported by the evidence. The Court concluded that these representations constituted both a breach of contract and misleading and deceptive conduct. The plaintiff was awarded damages to compensate for the losses it incurred due to its reliance on the defendants' misrepresentations.