Manly still had Coco Joy on their strip in their defeat to the Raiders. Photo / Getty
A coconut drink company has won its legal battle against Manly-Warringah NRL club over a demand for a AU$302,500 sponsorship payment.
In the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday, Acting Justice Reginald Barrett set aside the statutory demand served on FAL Healthy Beverages, which owns coconut water brand CoCo Joy.The debt
was said to have arisen from a AU$3 million major partnership agreement, dated October 7, 2015, and signed for FAL by Tim Xenos.
But FAL argued he had no authority to do so, as when he signed the preliminary agreement he was an undischarged bankrupt and therefore automatically disqualified from managing corporations.
The judge found that as at July 28, 2015, senior officers of Manly had information that an investigation by the corporate watchdog ASIC concerning Xenos and the possibility of his contravening corporate law was "ongoing".
"There is nothing to suggest that, a little over two months later, as at 7 October 2015, Manly had learned anything more on the subject," the judge said.
