McCallum, in the Matter of Re Holdco Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) (No 2)

• Jurisdiction: Australia Federal only
• Court: Federal Court
• Judgment Date: 21 April 2021
• Neutral Citation: [2021] FCA 377
• Date: 21 April 2021

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

McCallum, in the Matter of Re Holdco Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) (No 2) [2021] FCA 377

File number:	VID 285 of 2020
Judgment of:	O'BRYAN J
Date of judgment:	21 April 2021
Catchwords:	BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY – where administrators have disposed of property used or in the possession of companies under administration by way of sale pursuant to orders of the Court made under s 44C(2)(c) of the Corporations Act 2010 (Cth) – where the proceeds of sale have been retained to meet the claims of persons who assert ownership or security interests in the property sold – where the administrators claim their costs out of the retained proceeds of sale – where a number of interested parties have made claims to ownership or security interests in the property sold – determination of the relative value of the property sold by administrators – consideration of different valuation methodologies proposed by expert valuers – proper approach to valuation – whether unaccepted offers to purchase an asset are admissible as direct evidence of market value of that asset ; INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY – whether works done pursuant to technology and marketing services agreements created copyright works – whether the copyright works were sold as part of the property used or in the possession of companies under administration so as to generate some of the sale proceeds – whether relevant services agreements contained a retention of title clause which was a security interest within the meaning of section 12 of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) – whether ownership of copyright works, the subject of the retention of title clause, vested in grantor of the interest ; EQUITY – whether a vendor’s equitable lien arose under a share purchase agreement which provided for the payment of an initial purchase price and the remainder of the purchase price was deferred to a later date – where the share purchase agreement was subsequently varied – whether variations to the share purchase agreement evince an intention to exclude, abandon or waive the lien
Legislation:	Copyright Act 1958 (Cth) ss 10, 32(2), 35(2), 35(6), 36(1), 47AB, 196, 197 Corporations Act 2010 (Cth) ss 429(2), 442C, 436A, 436C, 446A, 447A, 513C, 556(1), 1305 Corporations Act 2010 (Cth) Schedule 2 (Insolvency Practice Schedule (Corporations) para 60-10(1)(c) Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) ss 59, 69 Goods Act 1958 (Vic) s 6 Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) ss 3, 12, 19(5), 21, 267 Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) r 40.02(b)
Cases cited:	674921 BC Ltd v Advanced Wing Technologies Corp (2006) 9 PPSA (d) 43; 263 DLR (4th) 290 Albert Life Assurance Co, Ex parte Western Life Assurance Society (1870) LR 11 Eq 164 Aluminium Industrie Vaassen BV v Romalpa Aluminium Ltd [1976] 1 WLR 676 Armour v Thyssen Edelstahlwerke AG [1991] 2 AC 339 Auxil Pty Ltd v Terranova [2009] WASCA 163; 260 ALR 164 Baiyai Pty Ltd v Guy [2009] NSWCA 65 Barclays Bank v Estates & Commercial Ltd [1997] 1 WLR 415 Barker v Cox (1876) 4 Ch D 464 Beale v Trinkler [2008] NSWSC 347 Benzlaw & Associates Pty Ltd v Medi-Aid Centre Foundation Ltd [2007] QSC 233 BP Refinery (Westernport) Pty Ltd v Shire of Hastings (1994) 180 CLR 266 Caruana v Port Macquarie-Hastings Council [2007] NSWLEC 109; 210 LGERA 1 Commonwealth of Australia v Amann Aviation Pty Ltd (1991) 174 CLR 64 Cordelia Holdings Pty Ltd v Newkey Investments Pty Ltd [2004] FCAFC 48 Crawley v Short [2009] NSWCA 410; 262 ALR 654 Dura (Australia) Constructions Pty Ltd v Hue Boutique Living Pty Ltd (2014) 49 VR 86 Elderly Citizens Homes of SA Inc v Balnaves (1998) 72 SASR 210 ET-China.com International Holdings v Cheung [2019] NSWSC 1874; 142 ACSR 121 Evans v McLean (No 2) [1987] WAR 110; (1985) 9 ACLR 796 Goold v Commonwealth (1993) 42 FCR 51 Hannam v Lamney (1926) 43 WN (NSW) 68 Hewett v Court (1983) 149 CLR 639 Jafari v 23 Developments Pty Ltd [2018] VSC 404 Langen & Wind Ltd v Bell [1972] Ch 685 Mackreth v Symmons (1808) 33 ER 778 McCallum, in the Matter of Re Holdco Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) [2020] FCA 666; 145 ACSR 243 McDonald v Federal Commissioner of Land Tax (1915) 20 CLR 231 MMAL Rentals Pty Ltd v Bruning (2004) 63 NSWLR 167 Re Maiden Civil (P&E) Pty Ltd; Albarran v Queensland Excavation Services Pty Ltd [2013] NSWSC 852; 277 FLR 337 Reliance Finance Corporation Pty Ltd v Heid [1982] 1 NSWLR 466 Rodney Jane Racing Pty Ltd v Monster Energy Company [2019] FCA 923; 370 ALR 140 State Government Insurance Office (Qld) v Rees (1979) 144 CLR 549 Wossidlo v Catt (1934) 52 CLR 301
Division:	General Division
Registry:	Victoria
National Practice Area:	Commercial and Corporations
Sub-area:	General and Personal Insolvency
Number of paragraphs:	325
Date of hearing:	27-29 January; 1, 4 February 2021
Counsel for the Plaintiff:	D F McAloon
Solicitor for the Plaintiff:	Gilbert + Tobin
Counsel for the First Interested Party:	J Slattery QC with L Currie
Solicitor for the First Interested Party:	Clayton Utz
Counsel for the Second and Third Interested Parties:	H N G Austin QC with A C Roe
Solicitor for the Second and Third Interested Parties:	Ashurst
Counsel for the Fourth Interested Party:	O Bigos QC
Solicitor for the Fourth Interested Party:	Minter Ellison
Counsel for the Fifth and Sixth Interested Parties:	P Crutchfield QC with B McLachlan
Solicitor for the Fifth and Sixth Interested Parties:	Arnold Bloch Leibler

ORDERS

	VID 285 of 2020
IN THE MATTER OF RE HOLDCO PTY LTD (ADMINISTRATORS APPOINTED) (ACN 612 592 471), RSE HOLDCO PTY LTD (ADMINISTRATORS APPOINTED) (ACN 612 586 893), SARGON CT HOLDINGS PTY LTD (ADMINISTRATORS APPOINTED) (ACN 628 621 321), SC INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS 2 PTY LTD (ADMINISTRATORS APPOINTED) (ACN 630 632 343), SARGON SUPERANNUATION HOLDINGS PTY LTD (ADMINISTRATORS APPOINTED) (ACN 630 648 225),...