Knaresborough Investments Limited vs Styles & Wood Group Limited (in Liquidation), Philip Nicholas Lanigan, and Anthony Stephen Lenehan

This case concerned an application by the Second and Third Defendants for an extension of time to serve their Defence or a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of a related application in the Insolvency and Companies List.

TLDR:

• Second and Third Defendants sought a seven-month extension or stay of proceedings.
• The application was based on the need to review approximately 700,000 documents.
• The High Court denied both the extension and the stay, emphasizing the need for timely case management.

The claimant, Knaresborough Investments Limited, pursued claims against Styles & Wood Group Limited (in Liquidation), Philip Nicholas Lanigan, and Anthony Stephen Lenehan. The claims stemmed from alleged erroneous information and representations made during the acquisition of Styles & Wood Group Plc by Extentia Group Limited in a project named 'Project Revie'.

The Second and Third Defendants were directors of Styles & Wood Group Plc at the time of the acquisition. Following the completion of Project Revie, Extentia went into administration, and Styles & Wood Group Plc went into liquidation.

By deeds of assignment dated 29 June 2023, the joint administrators of Extentia and one of the liquidators of Styles & Wood Group Plc assigned all relevant claims to Knaresborough Investments Limited. The claims included alleged breaches of duty by the directors and erroneous information provided during the acquisition.

The Second and Third Defendants sought an extension of time to serve their Defence, arguing that they needed to review approximately 700,000 documents provided by the liquidators. They also sought a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of a related application to set aside the assignment agreement.

The High Court, presided over by Nigel Cooper KC, denied both the extension and the stay. The court emphasized the importance of adhering to a tight timetable for the service of pleadings to enable efficient case management. The court found no exceptional circumstances to justify the lengthy extension sought by the defendants.

The court also rejected the application for a stay, noting that allowing the claim to remain dormant pending the outcome of the related application would be prejudicial to all parties and inconsistent with the overriding objective of timely case management.

The court set a deadline of 4:30 pm on 31 July 2024 for the service of the Defence by the Second and Third Defendants.

Legal representatives: James Pickering KC and James A Davies (instructed by Hewlett Swanson Llp) for the Second & Third Defendants/Applicants, Derrick Dale KC and Daniel Schwennicke (instructed by Dac Beachcroft) for the Claimant/Respondent.

Judicial Panel: Nigel Cooper KC sitting as a High Court Judge

Case Citation Reference: [2024] EWHC 1356 (Comm)