4 New Square Chambers’ Graham Chapman KC acted for the successful respondents in resisting a just and equitable winding up petition against Uphold Ltd.
The petition was brought by minority shareholders seeking a buy-out order on the basis of an alleged loss of trust and confidence in the board and alleged unfairly prejudicial conduct. The case concerned historic allegations of conspiracy, mismanagement and diversion of corporate opportunities in relation to a successful tech start-up, which the court found to be without foundation, exaggerated, and in some instances advanced without evidential support. The decision underlines the high evidential threshold for obtaining a just and equitable winding up order (or alternative relief), and the risks of pursuing such relief on the basis of unsubstantiated historic allegations in support of a court-ordered share buy-out. Graham was instructed by Liam Faulkner and Harry Shaw of Campbells LLP.
