Votraint No 708 Pty Limited v Davano Pty Limited and 2 Ors

Votraint No 708 Pty Limited (the appellant) appealed to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Western Australia against a decision of a single judge. The dispute concerned representations made by Davano Pty Limited (the first respondent) regarding the weekly takings of a business, which the appellant alleged were misleading and deceptive, inducing it to enter into a contract for the purchase of that business. The second and third respondents were directors of Davano Pty Limited.

The central legal issue before the Full Court was whether the representations made by Davano Pty Limited concerning the business's weekly takings constituted misleading or deceptive conduct in contravention of section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)). The Court was required to determine if the appellant had relied on these representations to its detriment and, if so, what the consequences of that reliance should be.

The Full Court upheld the primary judge's findings. It reasoned that the representations made were not mere statements of opinion but were presented as factual assertions about the business's performance. The Court found that the evidence supported the conclusion that these representations were indeed misleading and deceptive, and that the appellant had relied upon them when deciding to purchase the business. The Court applied established principles regarding misleading and deceptive conduct, focusing on the objective nature of the representations and the reasonable expectations of a purchaser in the circumstances.

The appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the costs of the respondents.