The British Virgin Islands High Court has invalidated the freezing and receiving orders of Hangzhou Wahaha Group’s 10 non-joint ventures in Samoa and BVI.
The orders were instated in late 2007 by the Supreme Court of Samoa under the request of French food and beverage producer Danone. Until now, international accounting and consulting firm KPMG has handled the assets. The adjudication order went into effect on 19 December 2008.
The BVI court’s ruling is followed rapidly by a second hearing in Sweden, which began early January at the arbitration arm of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. The aim of this hearing will be to judge whether Danone or Wahaha own the rights to the trademark used on fruit juices, teas and bottled water in China.
“The new verdict of the High Court of BVI will definitely affect the results of the Stockholm arbitration case,” said Wahaha’s legal counsel regarding the new adjudication order.
Although the outcome of the hearing isn’t legally binding, it will hopefully guide the companies to find a resolution for the ongoing dispute that began two years ago.
Danone accuses Wahaha of breach of contract by setting up separate firms selling Wahaha brands in direct competition with the joint venture, which is believed to hold a 16% share of China’s non-alcoholic beverage market.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024
