Application to strike out claims over retail property dispute partially granted as entitlement to appoint receiver questioned and injunctive relief refused

The High Court partly granted and partly refused various applications arising from a dispute between a business owner, several associated companies, and a private equity lender and receiver over the control and sale of a retail property. The court struck out the claim that the business owner had no interest in the property, finding it untenable based on conflicting evidence and breach of a mortgage pledge. However, it refused to strike out other claims questioning the lender’s legal entitlement to appoint a receiver following a company merger where statutory compliance was disputed, and it allowed challenges regarding the alleged undervalue sale of another mortgaged property to proceed. The court also refused to vacate a lis pendens registered against the property and denied an injunction restraining the sale or requiring the return of the business, finding that any losses could be remedied by damages. Costs were reserved for the trial judge due to mixed success by both sides.