Ireland found to lack jurisdiction to determine international shareholder dispute where Irish anchor company deemed a mere device

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal and set aside previous orders permitting service out of the jurisdiction on a group of Russian defendants and on a Cypriot company in a major international shareholder dispute concerning the alleged unlawful acquisition of shares in a major Russian fertiliser company. The High Court had previously refused to set aside service, concluding that Ireland was the appropriate forum for the proceedings and finding that an Irish defendant (an Irish-registered company) provided sufficient connection to justify jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal disagreed, finding that the presence of the Irish company as a defendant was a 'mere device' to establish Irish jurisdiction, as there was no real substance to the claim against that company and no benefit to be gained by pursuing it in Ireland. The Court concluded Russia was clearly the most appropriate forum, noting that the case and all parties had almost no connection to Ireland other than the Irish registration of the 'anchor' defendant. The Court also found that Irish jurisdiction could not be asserted over the Cypriot company under EU rules, as the claims against it and the Irish company were not closely connected and had been joined for the purpose of forum shopping. All orders allowing service out on the foreign defendants were set aside.