October 15, 2020
The High Court has handed down judgment in a preliminary issues trial of two claims involving the interpretation of a Material Adverse Effect clause: Travelport & Ors v WEX Inc; Olding & Ors v WEX Inc [2020] EWHC 2670 (Comm). This is a landmark judgment, being the first time that the High Court has dealt in depth with the interpretation of an MAE clause in the context of a share purchase agreement, and is the first MAE case arising out of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to come to trial.
The dispute arose out of the Defendant’s agreement to acquire the eNett and Optal Groups for c. $1.7 billion.
The Claimants were represented by Richard Hill QC, assisted by Andrew de Mestre QC, Lara Hassell-Hart and others.
You can view the full judgment here. There is expected to be a further trial to deal with the remaining issues in due course.
