FondTech is delighted that the Court of Appeal in England has dismissed the appeal brought by Force India in relation to the High Court judgment delivered by Mr Justice Arnold in March 2012 for the reasons given in its judgment.
The appeals dismissal confirms that the trial judge was entitled to arrive at his verdict of wholly exonerating Malaysia Racing Team (Team Lotus at the time the dispute occurred, today Caterham F1 Team, and not involved in the appeal process) and awarding Force India just 25,000 (21,000) by way of compensation.
This figure, which was originally awarded in relation to admitted and limited wrongful acts on the part of some Aerolab/FondTech* employees, is substantially less than the many millions Force India had sought for what they claimed to be much more extensive wrongdoing.
The verdict reached in March 2012 was based on oral evidence of Aerolab/FondTech's employees and after Force India was given access to all relevant documents they hoped would provide proof of conspiracy, something the trial judge originally concluded they had not 'come close' to doing.
It is hoped this will be the final chapter of the legal process in England and that FondTech can be left to focus on its business activities once again.
FondTech is again indebted to its highly-capable legal team of Counsel (Iain Purvis QC and Tom Alkin of 11 South Square) and Solicitors (Tim Bamford and Lesley Timms of Withers LLP), without whom this end result might not have been achieved.
Jean Claude Migeot, FondTech Managing Director: On behalf of everyone at FondTech I am delighted and relieved by todays judgment. Due to the complex nature of this case there was always an opportunity for facts to be misconstrued, but I have maintained faith that the rightful outcome would be reached. While this has been a lengthy process it has also been a necessary one in order to wholly restore FondTechs reputation as a trustworthy industry-leading supplier. I sincerely believe that todays verdict does just that.
*On 01/01/2013 Aerolab, the company involved in the original trial, was incorporated into FondTech.
