Artisan (UK) PLC
06 December 2007
ARTISAN (UK) PLC
ARTISAN SUCCEEDS IN STRIKING OUT LITIGATION
Artisan (UK) plc ('Artisan' or 'the Company') is pleased to report that, on 5th
December 2007, the High Court struck out Infiniteland Limited's and Mr John
Aviss' new action, as an attempt to re-litigate claims which have already been
dismissed by the Courts and, as such, an abuse of the process of the Courts. The
claimants were ordered to pay Artisan's legal costs in connection with the
striking out application, with £24,000 on account of such costs to be paid
within 14 days.
On 26th November 2007, Artisan had announced that Infiniteland Limited and Mr
John Aviss had served a claim on the Company, attempting to re-open the
litigation relating to the sale of Bickerton Construction Limited in 2001.
Artisan stated its intention to apply for the new claim to be struck out, and to
press for the earliest possible hearing of that application.
Hearing the Company's application, His Honour Judge Purle QC described the
claimants' new action as 'a manifest and obvious abuse'.
The Judge refused the claimants leave to appeal against his order to the Court
of Appeal. Artisan will know by the end of this month if the claimants intend to
attempt to persuade the Court of Appeal to give leave to appeal. Any such
attempt will be resisted equally vigorously by the Company and its legal team.
Michael Stevens, Chairman of Artisan, said:
'Infiniteland and Mr Aviss have dragged this litigation well beyond a sensible
point: at each stage of litigation, of which this is the latest, their claims
have been successfully refuted. It is to be hoped that they will now desist, as
their repeated attempts have wasted funds and have necessarily proven a
distraction to the management team at Artisan.'
Enquiries to:
Artisan (UK) plc
Chris Musselle Chief Executive 01480 436666
email@artisan-plc.co.uk
Brewin Dolphin Securities Limited Nominated advisers 0845 270 8613
Andrew Kitchingman
Bankside Consultants Financial PR advisers 020 7367 8888
Simon Rothschild 07703 167065
Company website: www.artisan-plc.co.uk
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange