Following a five-week trial in the High Court, Mr Justice Adam Johnson dismissed all claims against Mr Mercuriadis and his co-defendants.
The case centred on the launch of Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a FTSE 250 company and the first LSE-listed vehicle dedicated to investment in music publishing catalogues. The judgment addresses the question of what qualifies as a maturing business opportunity and the circumstances in which a company director may be inhibited from pursuing such an opportunity after he has ceased to be a director of that company within the framework of the Companies Act 2006.
The Court concluded that Mr Mercuriadis had not diverted any maturing business opportunity from the Claimant and could not be prevented from exploiting a general investment idea (i.e. the purchase of music publishing catalogues) that he personally had originated and brought such expertise to.
The Payne Hicks Beach team consisted of Dominic Crossley (Partner), Andrew Willan (Partner), Cherrene Balasanthiran (Legal Director) and Victor Lui (Senior Associate).
The firm instructed Edmund Cullen KC and Edward Granger of Maitland Chambers on this significant matter.
The full judgment is available here:https://www.maitlandchambers.com/images/uploads/pdfs/Hipgnosis_Music_Ltd_judgment.pdf
