Re Venture Capital Group Pty Ltd (No 2)

In the case of Re Venture Capital Group Pty Ltd (No 2), the plaintiff, Venture Capital Group Pty Ltd, and the defendants were parties to a dispute resolution agreement concerning the sale of the plaintiff's interest in a business to the defendants. The agreement included a mechanism for resolving disputes through the appointment of an independent expert to mediate between two valuers, one appointed by each party, in the event of a difference in their valuations of the business. The plaintiff terminated the appointment of the independent expert, alleging that the expert had breached the terms of his appointment. The defendants argued that the plaintiff's termination amounted to a repudiation of the dispute resolution agreement, which they considered to be a binding contract.

The court was required to determine whether the independent expert had breached the terms of his appointment and whether the plaintiff's unilateral termination of the expert's appointment constituted a repudiation of the dispute resolution agreement. Additionally, the court had to decide whether the defendants were justified in considering the plaintiff's termination of the expert's appointment as a termination of the entire dispute resolution agreement.

The court held that the dispute resolution agreement was validly terminated. It found that the plaintiff's termination of the independent expert's appointment, despite the absence of a breach by the expert, was a repudiatory act. This act justified the defendants in considering the dispute resolution agreement to be terminated. Consequently, the court ruled that the dispute resolution agreement was effectively terminated by the plaintiff's actions.

No further orders were made by the court beyond determining the validity of the termination of the dispute resolution agreement.