Australia?s court dismisses Bayan?s appeal
Thursday, September 25 2014 - 08:15 AM WIB
ASX-listed coal upgrading firm White Energy Company (WEC) announced on Thursday that the Court of Appeal of Western Australia has unanimously rejected IDX-listed coal miner PT Bayan Resources? appeal to the ruling made by the Supreme Court of Western Australia over its dispute with WEC.
Bayan?s appeal was heard before the Court of Appeal in March 2014.
?The Court of Appeal has today unanimously dismissed Bayan?s appeal to the grant and scope of the freezing orders. An order has been made that Bayan pay BCBCS? costs of the appeal,? WEC said in a statement.
The effect of the judgment is that the freezing orders made by the Supreme Court will remain in place unless and until there is a further order made. Subject to any attempt by Bayan to seek special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia or apply anew to the Supreme Court to challenge the freezing orders, the company expects that the freezing orders will remain in place until after the conclusion of the proceedings against Bayan in the High Court of the Republic of Singapore.
As previously announced by the firm, on April 5, 2012, the Supreme Court made freezing orders in favour of BCBCS Singapore Pte Ltd, a WEC subsidiary, in respect of Bayan?s 56 percent shareholding in Kangaroo Resources Limited, a publicly listed Australian company.
On 15 July 2013, BCBCS was served with notice of Bayan?s appeal from the orders made by the Supreme Court. Bayan?s appeal was limited to a challenge to the Supreme Court?s jurisdiction to make those orders. Bayan was not appealing the Supreme Court?s findings that BCBCS had established the elements necessary to obtain a freezing order, including that BCBCS had established for the purposes of its application for a freezing order that it had a good arguable case: (i) in respect of its claim against Bayan for breach of the Joint Venture Deed; and (ii) to recover damages in respect of at least its lost investment in the KSC Joint Venture.
WEC also announced the proceedings commenced by certain of its subsidiaries, including BCBCS, in the High Court of the Republic of Singapore against Bayan.
The proceedings include a claim by BCBCS against Bayan for damages arising from Bayan?s breaches of the Joint Venture Deed between the PT Kaltim Supacoal (KSV) shareholders and Bayan?s wrongful repudiation of the Joint Venture Deed.
WEC and Bayan involved in legal dispute after the latter unilaterally terminated the KSC JV in 2012.
KSC is a JV company owned 51 percent by WEC and 49 percent by Bayan. It was formed in 2006 to construct, commission and operate a 1 million ton per annum coal upgrading plant at Bayan?s Tabang coal mine in East Kalimantan.
The plant had been on trial run when Bayan decided to quit the JV as it was able to sell its 4,200 kcal/kg coal at higher margin to the market than having them fed to the upgrading plant. The company also expressed concerns regarding material handling issue in particular the level of dust generated.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon