Silkchime Pty Ltd v Warwick Entertainment Centre Pty Ltd [No 2]

Silkchime Pty Ltd (Receivers and Managers appointed) appeals from orders made by Le Miere J on 9 August 2012 requiring it to pay to Warwick Entertainment Centre Pty Ltd (Receivers and Managers appointed) the sum of $11,560,695 and interest thereon. The orders were made in proceedings brought by Warwick against Silkchime in the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The orders were made after Silkchime's application for leave to appeal from an earlier interlocutory order of Le Miere J was dismissed. The primary judge found that the loans made by Warwick to Silkchime were properly recorded as a debt owing from Silkchime to Warwick. Silkchime's principal contention is that the loans were made pursuant to a joint venture agreement (JVA) which provided that the loans were interest free and non-recourse. The trial judge rejected that contention and found that the JVA was not signed until some years after the relevant advances had been made by Warwick to Silkchime. The trial judge also rejected the claim that the advances were made pursuant to an oral agreement. The appeal was dismissed. The trial judge's findings were supported by the evidence and his conclusions were open to him. There was no error of law and no appealable error.